West African leaders call for UN action amid Ivory Coast bloodshed

[pampango]

Source: Global Post

West African leaders have reportedly called on the U.N. Security Council to tighten sanctions against disputed Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo to force him from power.

The call came as the United Nations Operation in Ivory Coast (UNOCI) reported that post-election violence had killed 52 people in the Ivory Coast in the past week, bringing the death toll this year to 462.

A meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Thursday also resolved that the 9,000-strong U.N. force in Ivory Coast should have a tougher mandate to help oust Laurent Gbagbo from power, according to the BBC.

The U.N. force in Ivory Coast should have the powers "to protect life and property and to facilitate the immediate transfer of power to Mr Alassane Ouattara," said the group, which has itself threatened to lead a military operation to oust Gbagbo.

Read more: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/110324/gbagbo-ivory-coast-africa-un

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Glad their directing their requests to the UN rather than the US or other individual countries.

[Kennah]

1. Global 9-1-1, what is your emergency?

[Baclava]

3. "Sorry - our 911 lines are busy - try again later"

Contact your local police for assistance.

[David__77]

2. Will the UN security council allow "all meaures" to protect life?

We shall see...

[Quantess]

4. Good for them, for calling attention to the inconsistency of peacekeeping interventions.

This will not be published by any major US "news" outlets.