THE?INTERNATIONAL?COMMUNITY will have breathed a sigh of relief on learning of Laurent Gbagbo’s reported eagerness to depart in peace.
The French may fittingly take a bow for their diplomacy in getting Mr Gbagbo into “direct negotiations based on African Union recommendations which said Alassanne Ouattara is president”.
Hopefully, by today “judicial and security conditions” for the former Ivory Coast president, his camp and relatives will have been negotiated and the passage cleared for Mr Gbagbo’s leaving.
Maybe now the situation in Ivory Coast that has fast been deteriorating, as rebel forces loyal to the internationally recognized President Alassanne Ouattara pushed to oust Mr Gbagbo, who lost the November election, will see some ease in tensions and fighting.
The reports from the West African state have been shocking, to say the least. According to the International Committee Of The Red Cross, almost 1 000 people have already been killed as a result of some of the worst violence seen there in decades.
Late last week, a meeting of the UN Security Council passed a resolution to impose sanctions on Gbagbo and his family. The meeting also sought to empower UN peacekeepers to use all necessary means to protect civilians, albeit too little too late.
Mr Gbagbo was ready to fight to his last man, making the march on Abidjan by Mr Ouattara’s forces even bloodier.
The United Nations peacekeeping forces supported by the French military had failed to stop the violence against civilians that had been going on for months. The current Gbagbo-French negotiations will have put paid to this.
It is unfortunate that the Economic Organization of West African States and the African Union had themselves failed to talk Mr Gbagbo out of power.
Mr Gbagbo’s likely demise and removal should serve as a warning to presidents in Africa who plot to use unconstitutional means to hang on to power through the use of tribal divisions.
The ethnic divide is the underlying reason that was fanned by Mr Gbagbo to retain his grip on power and not allow a challenger like Mr Ouattara to even contest presidential elections in the past. The reason for holding the election last year was to end the north-south divide and return the country to stability.
What is most unfortunate is that a few years ago Ivory Coast was a peaceful, prosperous country offering economic opportunities to many from neighbouring countries, thanks to its cocoa production.
Mr Gbagbo, as he sat brooding in a bunker below the presidential palace, may have seen the light. His stepping away will at least stop the bloodshed.
