NEW YORK, April 7, 2011 - Ivory Coast's presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara is expected to announce within days the end of a ban on exports of cocoa, of which the country is the world's leading producer, his U.N. envoy said on Thursday.
The country's cocoa sector is close to a return to normalcy after turmoil created by a post-election conflict between Ouattara and incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, envoy Youssoufou Bamba told a news conference.
"Mr. Ouattara, the president, will ... formally make an announcement (about lifting the ban) in the coming days," he said at the Ivory Coast's U.N. mission in Manhattan.
"We are very close ... to normalcy in this (cocoa) sector," Bamba said. "The San Pedro port is secure, and as soon as the stand-off in Abidjan will be over, everything will get back to normal very very quickly."
The export ban was imposed by Ouattara in January. That ban, combined with European Union sanctions and a crippled banking industry have brought the
Ivorian cocoa industry to a virtual standstill in recent months. Dealers estimate that around 500,000 metric tons of cocoa is stuck in Ivory Coast.
Forces loyal to Ouattara have been waging an offensive in Abidjan to topple Gbagbo, who has refused to cede power after losing last November's election to Ouattara, according to results certified by the United Nations.
Bamba said he expected the stand-off between Gbagbo's and Ouattara's forces to be over soon. He added that Ouattara had given Gbagbo every opportunity to depart with dignity, but the long-serving Ivorian leader had refused.
GBAGBO COULD HAVE TAUGHT IN BOSTON
Bamba said Gbagbo had initially received offers to move to the United States, Angola or South Africa but he had turned them down. The U.S. offer, Bamba said, had included the opportunity to teach at Boston University.
Gbagbo, who became president in 2000, was a history teacher by profession.
Bamba said Ouattara's people were no longer negotiating with Gbagbo. "No negotiation," he said. "We want him captured and brought to justice."
He added that they wanted to capture Gbagbo alive.
Bamba reiterated that Ouattara would form an "open and inclusive" Cabinet. But no Ivorian who has "hands tainted with blood" will be allowed to participate.
He accused Gbagbo of arming his supporters all over the country and reiterated that Gbagbo's intention was to inflict genocide on the population of Ivory Coast.
"Gbagbo is leading us into another atrocity like Rwanda," he said, referring to the 1994 massacre of around 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Bamba said it was unclear how much money would be needed for the country's reconstruction after months of conflict that erupted into a new civil war. Bamba said an assessment of the damage would be needed, though he expected the country, which was once the economic powerhouse of east Africa, to rebound.
"We have a resilient economy," Bamba said.
Source : Reuter
