West African defence chiefs planned Wednesday for a possible military intervention in Ivory Coast after regional leaders failed to persuade strongman Laurent Gbabgo to cede power.
After three regional heads of state wrapped up a mission to the troubled nation, it emerged that armed forces chiefs from across the troubled region were meeting in Nigeria to draw up their strategy for a troop deployment. A senior diplomat said the meeting in the Nigerian capital Abuja was about "the military planning and the logistics" of any eventual operation. Abdel-Fatau Musah, director for political affairs and external relations for the 15-member ECOWAS regional bloc, said the talks had begun on Tuesday and was expected to finish later in the day.
Nigeria's defence spokesman, Colonel Mohammed Yerimah, confirmed the meeting was underway but would not give details. The talks came as the leaders who went to Ivory Coast on Tuesday admitted they had failed to convince Gbabgo to make way for his rival Alassane Ouattara, the internationally-recognised winner of last month's presidential election.
Presidents Boni Yayi of Benin, Ernest Koroma of Sierra Leone and Pedro Pires of Cape Verde had gone to Abidjan to deliver Gbagbo an ultimatum: cede power or face the prospect of an intervention by ECOWAS forces.
The troika then flew on to Abuja to brief Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan, chairman of ECOWAS and leader of the region's military powerhouse. The Nigerian president acknowledged the envoys had not broken the deadlock but said they would return on January 3. "We are still talking," he told reporters after meeting Koroma and Pires. "People are negotiating. We are discussing. That is why they are going back."
Pires had earlier said that a return to Ivory Coast was necessary. His office said the "Ivorian parties" had asked for "time to reflect in order to find a viable way to conclude the electoral process, which is the only way to promote durable peace and stability in this West African country." Jorge Borges, Cape Verde's foreign affairs secretary, said the focus of regional efforts was to find a mediated solution and that talk of a military intervention had been put on the backburner.
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