ABIDJAN: Forces loyal to Ivory Coast's internationally recognised president Alassane Ouattara attacked Laurent Gbagbo's residence Wednesday, determined to remove him from his bunker and end his hold on power.
Gunfire erupted near Gbagbo's home and the presidential palace, witnesses said, amid a fresh assault to force him to end his decade-long rule of the world's number one cocoa producer after losing November elections.
"We are going to take Laurent Gbagbo out of his hole and hand him over to the president of the republic," said Sidiki Konate, spokesman for the pro-Ouattara forces.
"We are going to his residence to fetch him and put an end to this comedy... This charade must end because the country is collapsing," he said.
Gbagbo was holed up with his wife and a few others in his residence in Abidjan's northern suburb Cocody, defiantly refusing to acknowledge he had been beaten at the polls by his long-time rival.
After hours of fighting in the morning, the heavy weapon-fire stopped in the early afternoon and two United Nations mission (UNOCI) helicopters flew low over the districts housing the palace and Gbagbo's residence. In France a government source said Ouattara forces had launched a final assault after negotiations to persuade Gbagbo to give up power had failed.
"Gbagbo was still refusing to sign a document recognising Ouattara's victory ... and Ouattara concluded that he was not being honest," the source said.
"He therefore decided to intervene militarily to try and resolve the problem, to capture Gbagbo alive."
Gbagbo's camp condemned the move as an "assassination attempt" and accused Ivory Coast-based military units from former colonial power France of providing aerial and ground support, which they immediately denied.
After calling for a ceasefire and retreating to the bunker Tuesday with a handful of people including his wife Simone, Gbagbo insisted in a radio interview late Tuesday he would not accept he had lost the vote.
"I do not recognise the victory of Ouattara... Why would you want me to sign this?" Gbagbo told France's LCI news channel, referring to the document in which France and the United Nations urge him to quit. Gbagbo also said that while he did not regard himself as a "martyr", he was prepared to die.
"If death comes, it comes," he said. France, whose helicopters joined UN forces in attacking Gbagbo's bases earlier in the week, had indicated earlier that an exit deal was all but finalised.
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