Ivory Coast denounces US 'interference'

ABIDJAN (AFP) – Laurent Gbagbo’s government on Sunday denounced the “serious and inadmissible interference” in Ivorian affairs by the United States which has been pushing for the strongman’s departure.

US Ambassador to Ivory Coast Phillip Carter III was accused of “efforts to destabilise” and making “unpleasant and unfounded remarks” about Gbagbo, widely recognised as having lost the disputed November presidential polls, his government spokesman Ahoua Don Mello said in a televised statement.

Earlier this month, Carter warned time was running out for Gbagbo to depart peacefully and with amnesty, and predicted the army would abandon him once he ran out of money to pay them.

On Friday, the United States accepted the credentials of the new ambassador to Washington named by Alassane Ouattara, the internationally-recognized winner of Ivory Coast’s November 28 poll.