Gbagbo wants to heal Ivory Coast – Tutu
2011-05-03 07:54
Korhogo - Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo wants to "heal the wounds" in his country, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu said after meeting the ousted leader on Monday.
The Nobel Prize winner met Gbagbo alongside former UN chief Kofi Annan and former Irish president and UN human rights chief Mary Robinson in Korhogo in the north of Ivory Coast, at the guarded residence where Gbagbo is being held.
"We had a brief but warm exchange," Tutu told journalists. "We were glad that the former president expressed his desire to see the country return to a normal situation," he added following the 45-minute meeting.
Ivory Coast descended into a four-month political crisis after Gbagbo refused to accept the internationally certified results of a November 28 election that declared his rival Alassane Ouattara the winner.
The crisis culminated in 15 days of violence where some 3 000 people died, according to local authorities.
The three officials, representing a group known as The Elders, were the first to visit Gbagbo's modest, one-story residence since he was transferred to Korhogo from Abidjan on April 13.
"Thank you for being here," Gbagbo said to his visitors, wearing a blue shirt and black trousers.
Relaxed and smiling, Gbagbo shook hands with the three dignitaries, posed for photographers and film crews, but made no statement to the media.
Good health
Gbagbo was arrested on April 11 with his wife and roughly 100 loyalists following a raid on his home in Abidjan by pro-Ouattara forces.
"[Gbagbo] said that he had to heal the wounds of the country. That is why we are encouraged," Tutu said, adding that the former president "appears in good health".
Gbagbo "did not give us the impression he contested the election or the authority of president Ouattara. I believe he has accepted this," Annan said later at press conference.
"We encouraged him. When the time comes he must speak and encourage his supporters to calm down and reconcile," Annan said.
Meanwhile heavy weapons fire was heard on Monday in a district of Abidjan where fighters loyal to Gbagbo have been holed up, residents and soldiers said.
"There is fighting taking place in Yopougon... It is still continuing," a resident of the neighbourhood told AFP around 16:30 GMT.
"There are still some militiamen who will not listen. We are proceeding with our operation to comb the area" of Yopougon where pro-Gbagbo militia have refused to lay down arms, a spokesperson for Ouattara's Republican Forces (FRCI) told AFP.
The vast Yopougon neighbourhood in northwestern Abidjan is the last pro-Gbagbo militia stronghold following Gbagbo's arrest on April 11. Several hundred militiamen are believed to still be active in the district.
Reconciliation
The envoys arrived in Abidjan on Sunday on a visit aimed at promoting reconciliation in the country.
They first met with Ouattara, who was confined to an Abidjan hotel for much of the crisis and only assumed the presidency after Gbagbo's arrest.
Gbagbo and his wife have been placed under house arrest in different towns in the north of the country and the government has launched a probe against the toppled president and his associates.
But Ivorian Justice Minister Jeannot Kouadio Ahoussou told AFP a start date for the hearings is not yet "certain" as Gbagbo indicated his lawyers were not available.