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US to AU Panel: Make Clear Gbagbo Must Go

   VOA News  February 03, 2011
   Ivory  Coast's  presidential  claimant  Alassane  Ouattara  attends an
   interview at his headquarters in Abidjan, 20 Jan 2011.

Photo: Reuters

   Ivory   Coast's   presidential   claimant  Alassane  Ouattara  at  his
   headquarters in Abidjan, 20 Jan 2011

   The United States says the African Union should make it clear to Ivory
   Coast's incumbent president that he must give up power.
   Speaking  in  Nairobi  Thursday,  U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James
   Steinberg   said  the  U.S.  believes  Mr.  Gbagbo's  rival,  Alassane
   Ouattara, won the recent election and should be president.
   He  expressed  hope  that a panel of African leaders given the task of
   resolving  the  Ivorian  political  crisis will convince Mr. Gbagbo to
   step down.
   Mr.  Gbagbo  insists  that he won the election. He has resisted strong
   international pressure to yield power.
   The  AU  agreed  to form the panel on January 28.  Earlier this week,
   Mr.  Gbagbo's office said the incumbent leader will reject any finding
   suggesting he lost the election.
   The  AU  panel charged with resolving the impasse includes the leaders
   of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, South Africa, and Tanzania.  Other
   members  are  the  current  chiefs  of  the African Union and Economic
   Community of West African States. Â
   Mr.  Ouattara  continues  to  work out of a hotel in Abidjan, which is
   surrounded  by pro-Gbago security forces and U.N. peacekeepers who are
   protecting the building.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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