IVORY COAST (2)

While the world, through last night's Security Council resolution authorising a no-fly zone, appears to be doing something about the situation in Libya, a low-level civil war is going on in Ivory Coast. In my previous post on Ivory Coast in December, I said that it was important that international pressure be brought to bear on outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo, so that the winner of the recent election, opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, could take office. Although there have been lots of talks, including mediation by the African Union, Mr. Gbagbo has refused to budge. Meanwhile, his supporters are getting increasingly violent, provoking retaliation from those of Mr. Ouattara. More than 400 people have died since 28 November's disputed election, and an estimated 450,000 people driven from their homes. This is despite the fact that (in contrast to Libya) there are already 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers in the country, with a mandate to monitor the 2003 ceasefire, one of the pre-conditions that enabled the election to take place.

Various sanctions are in place against Mr. Gbagbo, and the West African central bank has handed over control of the national accounts to Mr. Ouattara. Without cash to pay supporters, particularly loyal units within the army, Mr. Gbagbo ought to be under pressure; yet there are rumours that other African "big men", notably President Jose dos Santos of Angola, are riding to his rescue by providing alternative resources. Whatever the truth of this, it is indisputably the case that Mr. Gbagbo has not yet stepped down, and that Mr. Ouattara spends most of his time holed up in a luxury hotel in Abidjan. A Government of national unity, though without Mr. Gbagbo himself, looks like the best way forward, and this plan has been approved by the African Union. But it hasn't happened yet.

The problems in Ivory Coast are probably at least as serious as those in Libya. Why then does one attract the world's attention while the other doesn't? "What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander" ought to be one of the guiding principles behind the way the United Nations works. Sadly, when it comes to events in sub-Saharan Africa (think Somalia, Rwanda, Congo), it doesn't seem to pan out that way.

Walter Blotscher