ABUJA: Military intervention to oust Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo remains an option if talks fail to end an impasse over rival claims for the presidency, the head of regional bloc ECOWAS said Tuesday.
"A military option is still on the cards," Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) chief James Victor Gbeho told reporters a day after African mediators held talks with the bitter rivals for the presidency.
"It is without doubt that the ECOWAS position is that if there is no joy in exploiting the peaceful situation then the military objective can also be considered as a tool for sustainable resolution of the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire," he said.
Gbeho added however that if there were even a "half a percent chance" of a peaceful solution to the standoff, it would be exploited in "order to obviate the force option."
"We are aware of the dangers in the force option particularly in a country like Cote d'Ivoire where almost all citizens and ethnic groups of our ECOWAS region are represented, and so it is an option that must be used with a lot of circumspection," he said.
"A military option is still on the cards," Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) chief James Victor Gbeho told reporters a day after African mediators held talks with the bitter rivals for the presidency.
"It is without doubt that the ECOWAS position is that if there is no joy in exploiting the peaceful situation then the military objective can also be considered as a tool for sustainable resolution of the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire," he said.
Gbeho added however that if there were even a "half a percent chance" of a peaceful solution to the standoff, it would be exploited in "order to obviate the force option."
"We are aware of the dangers in the force option particularly in a country like Cote d'Ivoire where almost all citizens and ethnic groups of our ECOWAS region are represented, and so it is an option that must be used with a lot of circumspection," he said.
ECOWAS agreed at its last summit that Gbagbo must cede power to Alassane Ouattara, internationally recognised as the winner of November 28 elections, or face military intervention by the regional bloc.
West African regional military chiefs met in Abuja last week and set in motion plans to oust Gbagbo if negotiations fail, according to a Nigerian defence spokesman.
A follow-up meeting to fine-tune the "last-resort" plan is scheduled for Mali on January 17 and 18.
"Our chiefs of defence staff have been meeting," Gbeho said.
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