Pro-Ouattara Fighters Capture Ivorian Capital, Gbagbo Delays Address

Pro-Ouattara Fighters Capture Ivorian Capital, Gbagbo Delays Address

Scott Stearns | Dakar  March 30, 2011

Photo: AFP

Members of Pro-Ouattara forces in Duekoue, western Ivory Coast, March 29, 2011

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• UN Spokesman Calls For 'Rapid Solution' to Ivorian Crisis
• Ivory Coast Rebels Rapidly Advance

Fighters backing the internationally-recognized winner of Ivory Coast's presidential election have taken control of the capital. The country's incumbent president has postponed a nationwide address as his army tries to recruit more troops.
Fighters supporting Ivory Coast's internationally-recognized president, Alassane Ouattara, have captured the political capital Yamoussoukro and are making gains in the southern port of San Pedro.
They are driving back government troops still loyal to incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo after a week of fighting near the Liberian border. Gbagbo's chief of staff General Philippe Mangou says the army is looking to recruit more fighters to defend Ivorian sovereignty.
As months of failed mediation to resolve this political crisis erupt into open combat, Gbagbo is calling for a cease-fire. Ouattara says all peaceful routes for his rival to admit electoral defeat have been exhausted.
Watch a related report by Mariama Diallo


Earlier this week, Ouattara rejected the African Union's choice of a mediator, saying former Cape Verde foreign minister Jose Brito is too close to Gbagbo. Gbagbo's government accepted the choice and said it plans to take part in talks in Ethiopia next week.
Affoussy Bamba is a spokeswoman for the Force Nouvelles party which backs Ouattara.
Bamba says Gbagbo has had many opportunities for discussion, but he has never respected the conclusions of that mediation. She told VOA's French to Africa service that the Ouattara government sees no point in negotiating again with the African Union when Gbagbo did not respect the last mediation.
Gbagbo was scheduled to address the nation late Wednesday, but his spokesman appeared on national television instead.
Gbagbo spokesman Ahoua Don Mello says the president is following the situation in the country closely and has decided to delay his address to the nation. State-run television's evening news then closed with a patriotic "Ode to Ivory Coast" after making no mention of the fall of Yamoussoukro.
While he has lost control of the political capital, Gbagbo and his allies continue to run most of the commercial capital Abidjan, where Gbagbo supporters are increasingly targeting United Nations peacekeepers because they say those troops are helping pro-Ouattara fighters.

Pro-Ouattara Fighters Capture Ivorian Capital, Gbagbo Delays Address

Pro-Ouattara Fighters Capture Ivorian Capital, Gbagbo Delays Address

Scott Stearns | Dakar  March 30, 2011

Photo: AFP

Members of Pro-Ouattara forces in Duekoue, western Ivory Coast, March 29, 2011

Share This

• Facebook
• Yahoo! Buzz
• Twitter

Related Articles

• UN Spokesman Calls For 'Rapid Solution' to Ivorian Crisis
• Ivory Coast Rebels Rapidly Advance

Fighters backing the internationally-recognized winner of Ivory Coast's presidential election have taken control of the capital. The country's incumbent president has postponed a nationwide address as his army tries to recruit more troops.
Fighters supporting Ivory Coast's internationally-recognized president, Alassane Ouattara, have captured the political capital Yamoussoukro and are making gains in the southern port of San Pedro.
They are driving back government troops still loyal to incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo after a week of fighting near the Liberian border. Gbagbo's chief of staff General Philippe Mangou says the army is looking to recruit more fighters to defend Ivorian sovereignty.
As months of failed mediation to resolve this political crisis erupt into open combat, Gbagbo is calling for a cease-fire. Ouattara says all peaceful routes for his rival to admit electoral defeat have been exhausted.
Watch a related report by Mariama Diallo


Earlier this week, Ouattara rejected the African Union's choice of a mediator, saying former Cape Verde foreign minister Jose Brito is too close to Gbagbo. Gbagbo's government accepted the choice and said it plans to take part in talks in Ethiopia next week.
Affoussy Bamba is a spokeswoman for the Force Nouvelles party which backs Ouattara.
Bamba says Gbagbo has had many opportunities for discussion, but he has never respected the conclusions of that mediation. She told VOA's French to Africa service that the Ouattara government sees no point in negotiating again with the African Union when Gbagbo did not respect the last mediation.
Gbagbo was scheduled to address the nation late Wednesday, but his spokesman appeared on national television instead.
Gbagbo spokesman Ahoua Don Mello says the president is following the situation in the country closely and has decided to delay his address to the nation. State-run television's evening news then closed with a patriotic "Ode to Ivory Coast" after making no mention of the fall of Yamoussoukro.
While he has lost control of the political capital, Gbagbo and his allies continue to run most of the commercial capital Abidjan, where Gbagbo supporters are increasingly targeting United Nations peacekeepers because they say those troops are helping pro-Ouattara fighters.

中共2010年国防白皮书 CCP white paper highlights US military 'competition'By Michael Bristow

CCP white paper highlights US military 'competition'

By Michael Bristow BBC News, Beijing

China says military competition in the Asia-Pacific region remains fierce

We note Chinese Communist Party is not China.

中共发表2010年国防白皮书

中共海军“舟山号”导弹驱逐舰访问坦桑尼亚并与该国举行联合海军演习。

（我们更正中共不是中国。）

中国国防部星期四（3月31日）发表2010年度国防白皮书，阐述新时期中国国防目标和任务，并称中国国防费将“保持适度合理增长”。

《2010年中国的国防》白皮书说，2010年中国国防费预算为5321.15亿元人民币，比2009年增长7.5%，增幅有所下降。
中国国防费主要由人员生活费、训练维持费和装备费三部分组成，各部分大体占三分之一。
2008年和2009年中国国防费支出分别为4178.76亿和4951.10亿元人民币，分别比上年增长17.5%和18.5%。
白皮书说，当前国际形式正在发生新的深刻复杂变化，中国面临的安全挑战更加多元和复杂。

新时期国防

白皮书系统概括了新时期中国国防的目标和任务，主要包括：维护国家主权、安全和发展利益；维护社会稳定；推进国防和军队现代化；维护世界和平。
白皮书强调中国军队将反对和遏制“台独”，打击“东突”、“藏独”等分裂势力，并维护国家在太空、电磁、网络空间的安全利益。
在台湾问题上，白皮书批评美国“违反中美三个联合公报原则”，继续向台湾出售武器，“严重损害中美关系和两岸关系和平发展”。
针对欧美国家经常抱怨中国军力扩张缺乏透明度，中国新公布的国防白皮书特别介绍了中国军队参加联合国维和行动，亚丁湾和索马里海域护航、以及中外军队联演联训等情况。

透明度

白皮书说，截至2010年12月，中国军队有1955名官兵在九个联合国任务区遂行维和任务，中国是联合国安理会常任理事国派遣维和人员最多的国家。
在亚丁湾和索马里海域护航行动中，中国海军派出了七批次18艘舰艇、16架直升机、490名特战队员参与执行护航任务，先后为3139艘中外船只提供安全保护。
白皮书称，为了促进与外军的互信与合作，中国军队已与外军举行了44次联演联训，包括中外反恐演习、中外海上搜救演练、中外陆军联训等。
中国的国防白皮书重申，中国始终奉行不首先使用核武器的政策，不与任何国家进行核军备竞赛。

军队心理服务

这份新的白皮书还说，中国军队将加强军队心理服务工作，开展官兵心理测评、心理训练和心理危机干预等心理服务工作。
根据新规定，中国旅团级部队将在五年内配备至少一名专职心理医生，连级分队配备三名以上心理骨干，以加强军队的“创新政治工作”。

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• China beefs up military spending
• Viewpoint: New Sino-US arms race?
• China seeks to ease US concerns

China says the United States is increasing its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, which is becoming more "volatile".

It also says there has been a rise in operations directed against China.
The views were made in China's National Defence white paper, issued by the government.
The paper outlines the country's current views on security issues and gives an overview of its military forces.
Fierce competition
In the document, released on Thursday, China gives a downbeat assessment of the regional security situation.
"Profound changes are taking shape in the Asia-Pacific strategic landscape. Relevant major powers are increasing their strategic investment," it says.
"International military competition remains fierce."
The document singles out the United States. According to China, it is reinforcing military alliances and getting more involved in regional affairs.
Beijing also says foreigners are now more suspicious of China - and have increased "interference and countering moves" against it.
Relations between China and the United States, particularly on military matters, have been strained over recent years.
That tension eased slightly following Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to the United States earlier this year.
But the potential for disagreement remains high.
"We admit that our military ties continue to face difficulties and challenges," said Colonel Geng Yansheng, spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, at a press conference to launch the white paper.
No issue threatens the relationship more that US support for Taiwan, a self-governing island off China's eastern coast that Beijing considers its own.
"The United States continues to sell weapons to Taiwan, severely impeding Sino-US relations," says the white paper.
Col Geng made it clear that the two countries must respect each other's core interests. For China, that includes Taiwan.
"China is willing to work with the US, based on respect, trust, equality and mutual benefits," he said.
The United States and some of China's neighbours occasionally express their concerns about the ultimate aim of Beijing's military modernisation.
But the white paper reiterates that no one has anything to fear.
It says China's armed forced, known as the People's Liberation Army, are there purely to defend the country.
China, it says, has a strategy of "attacking only after being attacked".

More on This Story

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• China beefs up military spending 04 MARCH 2011, BUSINESS
• Viewpoint: New Sino-US arms race? 11 JANUARY 2011, ASIA-PACIFIC
• China seeks to ease US concerns 10 JANUARY 2011, ASIA-PACIFIC
• China military modernisation gathers pace 07 JANUARY 2011, ASIA-PACIFIC
• Q&A: China-Japan islands row 24 SEPTEMBER 2010, ASIA-PACIFIC

Pro-Ouattara forces seize San Pedro threaten Abidjan

Pro-Ouattara forces seize San Pedro threaten Abidjan

Members of Pro-Ouattara forces on Wednesday in Duékoué, in western Côte d'Ivoire

AFP

By RFI

Supporters of Alassane Ouattara on Thursday have taken control of Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa-exporting port, San Pedro, and threatened to seize control of main city, Abidjan, unless Laurent Gbagbo drops his bid to hang onto the country’s presidency.

"Gbagbo has only a few hours to leave, otherwise we will march on Abidjan and it will become a lot more complicated for him,” Ouattara's prime minister Guillaume Soro was told RFI’s sister TV station France24 on Wednesday evening after his forces had captured the political capital, Yamoussoukro.

Shooting could be hear in Abidjan’s northern suburbs Thursday and residents have taken shelter in their homes.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday unanimously agreed sanctions against Gbagbo. Ouattara has been recognised as the winner of last year’s election by the African Union, West Africa’s Ecowas regional body and many countries.

Security Council 1975 slapped a travel ban and asset freeze on Gbagbo, his wife Simone and three of his closest allies.
It also declared that attacks on civilians could lead to prosecution for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.
But a reference to “the need to seize heavy weapons” was watered down to an instruction to the UN force, Unoci, to “prevent” their use, at the insistence of China, India, South Africa and Brazil.
The UN force "should not become a party to the Ivorian political stalemate. The Unoci should also not get involved in a civil war," warned India's ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri.

Unoci, which is unpopular with Gbagbo’s supporters, said this week that Ouattara’s forces had fired on a UN helicopter in the west of the country. Côte d’Ivoire’s UN envoy , Youssoufou Bamba, a Ouattara nominee, denied the charge.

Gbagbo cancelled an address to the nation planned for Wednesday and his supporters on Tuesday called for a ceasefire and talks.
Ouattara’s camp rejected the idea and its ambassador to France, Ally Coulibaly, declared that they controlled three-quarters of the country.
On Wednesday two French police officers assigned to the French embassy were wounded when pro-Gbagbo forces fired on their car, the French foreign ministry said.
 

tags: Abidjan - Alassane Ouattara - Civil war - Côte d'Ivoire - Elections - France - Laurent Gbagbo - President - Security - United Nations

NATO Takes Over Libya Air Operations

NATO Takes Over Libya Air Operations

VOA News  March 31, 2011

Photo: Reuters

A French pilot gives a thumbs-up before taking off in a French Mirage 2000 fighter jet from the Greek air base at Souda on the island of Crete, March 30, 2011

NATO to Take Control of Libyan 'No-Fly' Zone

• Libyan Rebel Applauds International Call for Gadhafi to Step Down
• Coalition Vows to Keep Up Military Pressure on Libya
• NATO Commander Says Libya May Need Foreign Stabilization Force

NATO has assumed full command of all air operations over Libya, taking over from the U.S., which had played a leading role since international forces began enforcing a no-fly zone on March 19.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the transition was completed early Thursday. The NATO operation, called "Unified Protector", includes enforcing the U.N. Security Council resolution that mandates the no-fly zone along with an arms embargo and airstrikes to protect civilians.

Meanwhile, U.S. media reports say the CIA has sent teams of operatives into Libya to gather intelligence and make contact with anti-Gadhafi forces. The reports cite officials as saying intelligence agents are looking into the identities and abilities of rebel forces before foreign allies consider providing them with direct military aid.

British sources told The New York Times that British special forces and intelligence officers also are in the North African nation.

In Washington, the White House repeated that the U.S. has not made a decision on whether to provide arms to rebel forces in Libya. Wednesday's statement was issued amid reports that President Barack Obama has approved a secret authorization for covert efforts to support anti-government rebels.

Earlier Wednesday, troops loyal to Gadhafi drove anti-government rebels from key coastal cities they had seized days before, reversing opposition gains made since international airstrikes began.

Libyan rebels retreated amid intense fighting around the strategic oil towns of Ras Lanuf and Brega. Many opposition fighters fell back to the city of Ajdabiya, from where residents were seen fleeing along the road toward the opposition stronghold of Benghazi.

Pro-Gadhafi forces were shelling Brega and a rebel military spokesman said he expected the loyalists to enter the city by Wednesday night.

The spokesman Colonel Ahmad Bani also said as many as 3,600 heavily armed members of the Chadian Republican Guard are now fighting alongside Gadhafi loyalists. He dismissed concerns that members of al-Qaida are fighting with the Libyan rebels.

CCP Military Assessment Seeks 'Better Understanding'

CCP Military Assessment Seeks 'Better Understanding'

Stephanie Ho | Beijing  March 31, 2011

Photo: AP

A Chinese pilot looks out from the cockpit of a Chinese made F7 jet parked at the People's Liberation Army's 24 Air Division airbase in the suburbs of Tianjin, 70 kilometers (44 miles) southeast of Beijing, (File)

We,the Universal Value Wang, note ChineseCommunist Party is not China

• China to Boost Military Spending

China says it hopes the international community will "better understand" its armed forces, with the release of a biennial report on developments with its military.  It also reaches out to Taiwan and the United States.

Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng says China is seeking to build confidence with the release of its latest military white paper.

Geng says the report should help the international community better understand China’s armed forces and advance trust and cooperation between China and the rest of the world.

The report says China will continue to maintain a defensive military policy and that the country will focus on its own economic development.

Those should be welcome words to some of China's neighbors, who have become concerned by Beijing's increasingly assertive claims to sovereignty in the seas around its shores. But the report also says China's navy has developed an offshore defense strategy with the capability of conducting operations "in distant waters."  It says one of the jobs of China's military is to safeguard the country's maritime rights and interests.

The report specifically criticizes the United States for selling weapons to Taiwan, a separately-governed island that China considers part of its territory.

The spokesman did not mention Taiwan, specifically, but said China is ready to work with the United States to, in his words, "properly address" issues related to the core interests of the two countries.

Geng indicated that China is ready to talk to Taiwan authorities and is planning cross-Straits military exchanges.

He says China wants to avoid a scenario where "blood brothers of the Chinese nation" meet on the battlefield or engage in armed conflict against each other.

In Taipei, Arthur Ding, of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, says despite Beijing’s soothing words, many Taiwan residents see China’s military expansion as a threat.
"It is pretty hard to persuade the people in Taiwan and say that China is a benevolent power, but [at the same time] they have very capable, mighty military capability.  I think it’s pretty hard," Ding said.

China has hundreds of missiles aimed at the island.  Ding says many people in Taiwan would like to see those missiles withdrawn immediately.

The Chinese spokesman says any military deployment by the mainland is not targeted at what he terms Taiwan compatriots”   He says the issue can be discussed when the two sides set up military confidence-building measures.

Meanwhile, Geng says China and the United States still face difficulties and challenges in developing military relations.  But he stresses that China will make unremitting efforts toward the building of a sound Sino-American military relationship.

He announced that the chief of general staff of the People’s Liberation Army, General Chen Bingde, will visit the United States in May.  This follows a visit to China in January by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

New protests expected in Syria after Assad speech

New protests expected in Syria after Assad speech

Bashar al-Assad addresses parliament in Damascus

Reuters/Syrian state TV

By Barbara Giudice

New demonstrations are expected in Syria after Muslim Friday after President Bashar al-Assad’s speech to parliament Thursday. Although Assad did not lift the country’s state of emergency, analyst Barah Mikhail says he may have satisfied some Syrians with promises of reform.

And new reforms are necessary, says Mikhail, a researcher at the Fride thinktank in Madrid.
“A priority from a political point of view would be to allow the creation of associations and political parties,” he told RFI. “Because if Mr Assad doesn’t open up the political scene the problem will be that people will again feel frustrated.”

Assad’s reference to foreign-inspired plots against Syria's enemies are nothing new, Mikhail says, but appeal to the audience he was trying to reach.

“By talking about foreign threats, Mr Bashar Assad is doing something that people are convinced of because between 2004 and 2008 they have seen … close threats and strong pressures developed by the United States and by France on their own government,” he says.
He points out that Israel bombed Syrian territory when Ariel Sharon was Israeli prime minister from 2000-2006.