The battle of Abidjan Saturday saw a new rise in power with the attack against the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, the headquarters of the president recognized by the international community, Alassane Ouattara, by men of outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo.
His spokesman, Ahoua Don Mello, however, strongly denied in the evening to AFP that the attack was carried out by his forces: "This is absolutely false.There was no attack of Golf, "he said, calling the incident an" imaginary attack. "
"President Gbagbo called for resistance against the bombing and the actions of the French army in Ivory Coast, because ultimately it is the French army that attacked us," he also said Ahoua Don Mello.
"Our troops are trying to rebuild after suffering a barbaric attack of the rebels backed by the UN and Licorne," he added.
Conducted after a relatively quiet day in Abidjan, the shooting against the Golf Hotel are the first aimed directly at the hotel where Mr. entrenchedOuattara and his government since the beginning of the post-election crisis in Ivory Coast, there are more than four months.
"We are being attacked with heavy weapons and light. It shook the walls, the staff are being evacuated in the basement," said a hotel employee. According to several witnesses, the fire started before 5:00 p.m. local and GMT and was completed shortly after 18:00.
Defence Forces and Security (SDS pro-Gbagbo) "are now attacking us and trying to push them," said a veteran Republican Forces of Mr. Ouattara.
"The shots are very, very close. Snipers fired bursts of Kalashnikov.The pro-Gbagbo attack us on all fronts ", including from the opposite edge of the lagoon along the Golf Hotel, said a resident of the Golf Hotel.
"Before the attack on the golf hotel, a convoy of soldiers FRCI Forces (Republican, pro-Ouattara) was ambushed as he left the hotel to Abobo (north of Abijan)," he told AFP an official military camp Ouattara.
"There are at least four dead and ten wounded," he added.It was not immediately possible to confirm this assessment.
Peacekeepers defending HQ Ouattara returned fire Saturday after the mortar attack, said the UN mission in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI).
"It came from the other side of the lagoon (south of the hotel) and the residence of President Gbagbo (located in the same district of Cocody)," said Hamadoun Toure, spokesman of the UNOCI.
"In accordance with their mandate to protect the golf hotel where the president and his team Ouattara, peacekeepers have responded by targeting the source of the shots coming from the other side of the Lagoon.We purposely avoided the residence of President Gbagbo, "added the spokesman.
In Washington, the spokesman for the State Department reiterated on Saturday condemned the violence perpetrated by the forces of Laurent Gbagbo, describing his attempts to negotiate a "ruse to regroup and rearm.
On the ground, a lull prevailed in Abidjan Saturday after heavy fighting the previous day's heavy machine gun and small arms fire that raged on the perimeter that includes the residence of Mr. Gbagbo, the RTI and the school gendarmerie.
Laurent Gbagbo's troops are fighting hard in the fiefs they held and where they enjoy a degree of mobility, according to testimony consistent.
Alassane Ouattara troops trying to secure the rest of the economic capital that suffers from a serious food situation.
The organization of human rights Human Rights Watch on Saturday accused forces pro-Ouattara and the pro-Gbagbo of committing massacres in western Ivory Coast, claiming possession of new evidence of atrocities already denounced by the UN and NGOs.
Forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara raped or killed hundreds of people and burned villages in late March in western Côte d'Ivoire, HRW said in a report published in New York.
The NGO also claims to have evidence of atrocities committed by the forces of Laurent Gbagbo, including a massacre at Blolequin March 28 more than a hundred men, women and children from northern Côte d'Ivoire and neighboring countries .On the 29th, ten of the same origin were killed and eight Togolese Guiglo in a village near Blolequin, HRW added.
In this context, the UN and the French Licorne force have confirmed their presence Saturday in the strategic port of Abidjan after the lifting of European sanctions, announced Friday against two major ports of Côte d'Ivoire - Abidjan San Pedro - as well as against several related companies including the cocoa sector.
Large stocks of cocoa beans, the main source of foreign currency, the world's largest producer, have been waiting for weeks to go for export.
On the other hand, an Air France flight arrived Saturday morning at the Abidjan airport, according to a French military source, who for the resumption of commercial flights is "effective."
