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French ground troops have entered the centre of the main Ivory Coast city of Abidjan for the fist time as incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo refuses to quit. Helicopter gunships are firing in the area around Mr Gbagbo's residence. On Sunday, UN and French helicopter gunships began a new operation they said was aimed at destroying heavy weapons near Mr Gbagbo's residence. Mr Gbagbo has been refusing to cede power to internationally-recognised President Alassane Ouattara. Loud explosions can be heard echoing around the lagoons which surround the centre of the city, says the BBC's Mark Doyle in Abidjan. On Monday morning,...

Early reports suggested that more than 800 people, largely from the Gbagbo-supporting Gueré tribe, were killed in a single day at the sprawling Salesian Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus mission in Duekoue, 300 miles west of Abidjan towards the Liberian border. The attackers seem to have been largely soldiers descended from Burkina Faso immigrant Muslim families loyal to Ouattara. Late yesterday the Roman Catholic charity Caritas said more than 1000 people were massacred in Duekoue. A Caritas spokesman said Caritas workers visited the town and reported seeing a neighbourhood filled with bodies of people who had been shot and...

Pro-Gbagbo forces launched an onslaught on the headquarters of the internationally recognised president, Alassane Ouattara, Saturday. French authorities said fighters also attacked its embassy in Abidjan, provoking counter-strikes. AFP - Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo's forces attacked the headquarters of his rival, UN-recognised president Alassane Ouattara, on Saturday in a major escalation of the battle for control of the country. A UN spokesman and witnesses told AFP the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, where Ouattara has been holed up since disputed November elections, came under attack from about 5:00 pm local time (1700 GMT). It was the first time since the...

Anti-war demonstrators gathered in Montreal and Toronto this afternoon to call for an end to armed conflict across the globe. About 200 protesters marched through the streets of downtown Montreal. Many carried signs protesting against Canada's involvement in Afghanistan and Libya. Others wanted a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ivory Coast. The Raging Grannies protest group performed songs calling for a more peaceful world for their grandchildren. Several dozen protesters turned out at a demonstration in Toronto.

Forces supporting Ivory Coast's entrenched strongman are showing they're not ready to give up. They broke through the security perimeter imposed around the presidential compound today, firing on French helicopters. A spokesman for French forces says no French soldiers were injured in the attack, but the helicopters fired back, destroying one armored vehicle. Forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo's (BAHG'-bohz) camp had appeared on the brink of defeat, while those trying to install the internationally recognized winner of November's presidential election seized control of most of the country and isolated Gbagbo in a bunker.

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – French forces wearing night vision goggles rappelled from a helicopter to rescue the Japanese ambassador and seven others, France's foreign minister said Thursday, as Ivory Coast's strongman leader remained in an underground bunker amid the fighting.

President Obama has announced that America would stop attacking Col. Moammar Khadafy's forces in Libya. He instead hopes that others can force out Khadafy -- or that the dictator will leave through economic and diplomatic pressure. It will apparently be up to NATO to finish the war-- without direct American combat participation. The relieved Obama administration had never quite explained what the mission was in the first place -- or for whom and for what we were fighting. Was the bombing to stop the killing, to help the rebels or to remove Khadafy? Were we enforcing just a no-fly zone,...

"France goes to war," announces the front page of Libération, in the wake of intervention by the 1,500-strong French Licorne (Unicorn) force in Ivory Coast. In response "to a request from the UN," on 4 April, helicopters from the French air force and and the UNOCI mission in the country bombarded several positions manned by forces loyal to outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to hand over power to his rival, Alassane Ouattara, the internationally acknowledged winner of the 2010 election in the country. "This intervention jointly conducted by the UN and the former colonial [Ivory Coast became independent...

Many of us are deeply troubled by what is happening in the Ivory Coast (La Cote d'Ivoire). The fundamental issues are being overlooked. The consequences and ramifications of this denouement are also being overlooked. Alasanne Ouattara went to the USA in the 1960s on an African-American Institute (AAI) scholarship as a citizen of the Upper Volta, now Burkina Faso. He was employed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the late 1960s as a citizen of the Upper Volta/Burkina Faso. From the 1960s onwards, as the economy of Ivory Coast boomed, there was considerable immigration from neighbouring countries, particularly, Upper...

YouTube - President Obama Speaks to the People of Côte d'Ivoire via kwout

Alassane Ouattara, the man recognised by the international community as the winner of Cote d'Ivoire's presidential poll, has continuously been thwarted in his attempts to lead the west African nation. The 69-year-old began his career in economics, working at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, while also gaining a masters and doctorate in the field from the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. At the IMF he worked as African Director and as vice-governor, and governor, of the regional Central Bank of West African State, until being urged by Felix Houphouet-Boigny, Cote d'Ivoire's independence leader, to save the country...

Tens of Thousands of Refugees Trapped at Christian Compound After Mass Slaughter in Duékoué | FavStocks

YouTube - Catholic Church reports mass murder in Cote d'Ivoire via kwout

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé says that incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo is negotiating his departure from the Ivory Coast after months of refusing to cede power following a November presidential run-off. No more at the moment.

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – A senior diplomat says forces backing Ivory Coast's democratically elected leader have seized the presidential home where the entrenched strongman is in a bunker. The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Tuesday that fighters had taken the residence. Forces aiming to topple strongman Laurent Gbagbo had succeeded in taking nearly the entire countryside in just three days last week.

Fighting in Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan, has taken a new turn with reports that entrenched ruler Laurent Gbagbo's residence has been captured. Forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the country's internationally recognised president, said they had taken the building after a day of fierce combat. A spokesman for Mr Ouattara, Patrick Achi, told the BBC it was not yet clear whether Mr Gbagbo had been inside. Heavy weapons fire could be heard again early on Tuesday, reports say. On Monday, UN and French helicopters attacked targets near the presidential residence. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the attacks were ordered...

Please pray for these victims. It’s an underreported story that took place over the weekend. This from Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit: At least 1,000 Christians were slaughtered this week in at the Salesian Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus mission in Duekou, Ivory Coast by Muslim troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara. The state-run media has been slow to report the facts. The conflict in Ivory Coast began in 2002. The country is divided between the Muslim north and Christian south. This is a conflict that has been brewing for years. Troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the Muslim opposition leader,...

Please pray for these victims. It’s an underreported story that took place over the weekend. This from Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit: At least 1,000 Christians were slaughtered this week in the Salesian Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus mission in Duekou, Ivory Coast by Muslim troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara. The state-run media has been slow to report the facts. The conflict in Ivory Coast began in 2002. The country is divided between the Muslim north and Christian south. This is a conflict that has been brewing for years. Troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the Muslim opposition leader, moved...

UN helicopters have fired on a camp of forces loyal to Ivory Coast's incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo as his opponent's fighters launched a new offensive on the main city, Abidjan. Loud explosions have been heard as fighters backing internationally recognised President Alassane Ouattara move towards the presidential palace. France has authorised its forces to join the UN in protecting civilians. Reports from Abidjan say several people have been kidnapped. The group, including two French nationals, were seized by "armed men" from the Novotel hotel, the French foreign ministry told the AFP news agency. Heavy weapons A UN official told the...

(CNN) -- Violence is escalating in the west African nation of Ivory Coast, where president-elect Alassane Ouattara is trying to oust incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to leave office after losing an election. But the international response -- limited to a U.N. peacekeeping force already deployed there -- has paled by comparison with the U.S. and NATO air strikes targeting forces to Moammar Gadhafi in Libya to prevent attacks on rebels and civilians.