US Assistant Secretary for Africa

Carson speaks on situation in Cote

d’Ivoire
The situation that you’ve described in Cote d’Ivoire
sounds an awful lot like the situation in other
places, or at least one other place, where the
Administration has decided to intervene militarily.
Can you explain why you don’t think that that kind
of intervention is needed or desirable in Ivory
Coast, given the fact that things are so dire on the
ground?
The international community has intervened in the Ivory
Coast, and that intervention is showing results. The other
country that you’re thinking about is in the Maghreb. But
let me just say that there are some 11,000 UN
peacekeepers on the ground in the Ivory Coast. They are
supplemented by French military units that are a part of
that UN peacekeeping force.
Secondly, the government – or the former government of
Laurent Gbagbo does not have helicopter gunships, jet
aviation, or tanks in the numbers that we have seen in
the other country that you have mentioned, nor have we
seen the tremendous loss of life or the exceedingly large
number of people racing for the borders. This is not to
say that there is not a humanitarian crisis in the Ivory
Coast; there is. The reason why we are so concerned
about the Ivory Coast today is that if there is, in fact, a
full-scale civil war in that country, it will not only lead to
large refugee flows out into Liberia and to neighboring
states; it will also probably lead to growing instability in
Sierra Leone, Liberia, and other countries that have been
plagued by instability before.
We’re concerned about this. We’re concerned about the
hundred thousand Ivoirians that have already left and
gone to Liberia. But there is a difference between the
two countries that you speak of. The United Nations has
been engaged, including in a new resolution just last
night on this issue.
Could you outline for us what the American
component of the UN operation is in Ivory Coast,
what the U.S. is contributing to that other than
perhaps just money?
The United States contributes about 25 percent of the
financial wherewithal to all international peacekeeping
operations, and this is no exception. What we have
contributed is a great deal of diplomacy, diplomacy at the
highest levels of the U.S. Government.
President Obama has been directly involved, Secretary
Clinton has been directly involved, Deputy Secretary Jim
Steinberg has been involved, I have been involved and
our Ambassador in the region. We have worked closely
with the United Nations, we’ve worked closely with the
French, we’ve worked closely with Alassane Ouattara,
and we have worked closely with the leaders of ECOWAS.
Sometimes our political influence is as significant as what
we put on the ground with respect to military might.
Well, right – well, except for, in this case, the
political influence doesn’t – which has been
brought to bear, since December, it hasn’t resulted
in Gbagbo leaving, correct?
Well, I think the situation is quite fluid. If you have
followed the events over the last 24 hours, you know that
Alassane Ouattara’s forces have made substantial gains
throughout the southern part of the country. In the west,
they have made gains along the Liberian border. They
have captured the second largest port city of San Pedro.
They have captured the ceremonial capital of the
country, Yamoussoukro. And they have made gains on
the eastern side as well.
The only place where there is significant and substantial
resistance to the forces of Alassane Ouattara are in and
around Abidjan, and the news that we have is that the
forces of Alassane Ouattara are now on the outskirts of
the city.
Ancillary to that, there’s some reports that this
conflict could be over in hours or a matter of days.
What is your take on that? Obviously, you would
support a complete takeover of Abidjan by the
Ouattara forces. Also, are you aware of the army
chief of Gbagbo taking refuge in an embassy in
Abidjan?
Absolutely. We have confirmed reports from the South
Africans themselves, who have released a statement that
the chief of the army staff, General Philippe Mangou, his
wife, and three children last night asked for asylum in the
residence of the South African ambassador in Abidjan.
We have unconfirmed reports that the head of the
gendarme has also sought asylum in another embassy,
but we have not had that report confirmed.
There is a clear indication that the military forces of
Gbagbo have, in fact, started to disintegrate. The rapid
pace at which Alassane Ouattara’s forces have been able
to move across the country from east to west, up to
Abidjan suggests that there have been widespread
desertions in the Gbagbo forces. The departure of his
army commander lends greater credence to that.
With respect to the first part of your question, I think it
would be premature and probably a little bit reckless for
me to predict when Gbagbo will fall, whether it will be in
the next several hours, the next several days, or the next
several weeks. But it is absolutely clear that he is in a
substantial and significantly weakened position, having
lost most of the territory that he holds in the south and
with defections among his senior military ranks.
Since Gbagbo and his forces are not doing well at
all, are you in conversations with Ouattara’s side
about how to handle, say, the eventual capture of
Gbagbo, should he be taken alive?
There is still an opportunity for Gbagbo to step aside in a
fashion which will prevent widespread bloodshed and a
difficult fight in Abidjan for power. We hope that he will
see and seize this opportunity to step aside peacefully
and encourage his supporters to lay down their arms and
not to engage in urban conflict.
We are especially concerned about the youth militia, the
Jeunes Patriotes, who have been manning roadblocks
throughout Abidjan – undisciplined, unemployed youth
who have come to the side of Gbagbo. We encourage Mr.
Gbagbo, we encourage some of his senior leaders,
Foreign Minister Djedje, Mr. Blé Goudé, to encourage that
all of these young men who are manning roadblocks who
have been accused of carrying out assassinations to lay
down their weapons and participate in the reconstruction
of the country.
If, in fact, there is major violence in Abidjan and Gbagbo
does not step aside, he and those around him, including
his wife, Simone Gbagbo, will have to be held
accountable for the actions that they failed to take to
stop it.
Wouldn’t he be held accountable anyway for the
actions he’s taken until this point? I mean, he’s
been responsible for a number of deaths.
Exactly. We’re looking and we certainly will and I think
the international community will certainly hold him
accountable. But he does have an opportunity, but that
opportunity is slipping away.