Rebel forces seeking to install Ouattara, who won an election last November according to results certified by the United Nations, swept from the north to the economic capital Abidjan almost unopposed more than a week ago.
But despite a fierce rebel onslaught, Gbagbo’s soldiers have held onto swathes of the city, and are now growing bolder.
The U.S. State Department condemned the attack on Ouattara’s hotel and said in a statement that Gbagbo’s attempts at negotiation last week were nothing more than a ruse to regroup and rearm.
“Gbagbo’s continued attempt to force a result that he could not obtain at the ballot box reveals his callous disregard for the welfare of the Ivoirian people, who will again suffer amid renewed heavy fighting in Abidjan,” the State Department said.
A U.N. spokesman in Abidjan said Saturday’s attack on the Golf Hotel, which Ouattara has made his base since the election, involved heavy weapons that appeared to have been fired from Gbagbo’s heavily defended residence.
“This was not a fight, but a direct attack by Gbagbo’s forces, who fired RPGs and mortar rounds, from positions near Gbagbo’s residence, at the Golf Hotel,” said U.N. spokesman Hamadoun Toure.
He said one U.N. peacekeeper had been hurt, and that U.N. forces had responded by firing on those positions.
Gbagbo’s spokesman Ahoua Don Mello, denied Gbagbo’s forces attacked Ouattara’s headquarters and said the incumbent president was calling on his supporters to mount a resistance against French forces.
“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,” Don Mello said in a statement.
Mariam Konate, a resident of the area near the hotel, said: “There was fierce fighting with heavy weapons and our houses shook, even some windows shattered. We’re all locked in our homes, but things quietened down about an hour ago.”
Pro-Gbagbo forces seem to be determined to strike fast, a sign that they want to gain momentum before more troops desert and/or that they may be desperate, said Lydie Boka, analyst at StrategiCo consultancy.
“The attack on Ouattara’s headquarters have won Gbagbo praise among his supporters but will probably attract more sanctions on him,” Boka said.
PORTS SECURED
French soldiers supporting the U.N. mission in Ivory Coast and backing Ouattara’s claim to the presidency secured Abidjan’s port on Saturday, but said the central neighbourhoods of Cocody and Plateau were still being fought over.
“They (Gbagbo’s forces) won some positions overnight that they lost again this morning,” said Frederick Daguillon, spokesman for the French force in Ivory Coast, Licorne. He said Gbagbo’s fighters “have become more confident”.
French helicopters clashed with Gbagbo’s defenders early on Saturday during a failed attempt to rescue diplomatic staff trapped by the fighting in Cocody. British and other diplomats were later evacuated, a British Foreign Office spokesman said.
The BBC said bullets had hit the British embassy and a mortar round had landed in the garden.
Reuters witnesses said a fragile calm had returned to many parts of the city on Saturday, allowing shell-shocked residents to leave their homes in search of food and water amid the debris of war, or to try to escape to safer areas.
“Yesterday, militiamen came to our house, we were threatened,” said Jean Kima, a Burkinabe fleeing with his family in the northern district of Gesco. “The militia could come back at any moment and perhaps the worst will happen next time.”
Gbagbo is believed to be isolated in the bunker under his residence in Cocody, where he has sought refuge from a concerted assault by Ouattara’s troops while his elite presidential guard and militiamen do battle.
Only three days ago, his defeat had appeared imminent and talks took place between the two sides.
The United States accused Gbagbo of “a callous disregard for the welfare of the Ivorian people” and urged him to step down.
“It is clear that Gbagbo’s attempts at negotiation this week were nothing more than a ruse to regroup and rearm,” a state department statement said.
A senior commander of Ouattara’s forces near the northern entrance to Abidjan, Zacharia Kone, said his soldiers were prepared for any counter-attack.
“GBAGBO STILL IN PLACE”
Gbagbo, who has ruled Ivory Coast since 2000, is defended by around 1,000 men. November’s election was meant to draw a line under a 2002-3 civil war that split the world’s top cocoa producer in two, but instead re-ignited it.
Burned-out vehicles and looted shops with wares spilling out of smashed windows were evidence of recent fighting in the south of Abidjan, as a French military convoy wound its way to the port handling the bulk of Ivory Coast’s cocoa shipments.
“It was at the request of incoming president Ouattara that we have come to secure the port zone,” said Captain Roland Giammei, who said the forces were working alongside Ivorian gendarmes loyal to Ouattara.
Ivory Coast’s cocoa industry, the world’s largest, has been paralysed since January, when Ouattara announced a ban on exports and the European Union imposed shipping restrictions in order to squeeze Gbagbo’s finances.
Ouattara is now seeking to revive the country’s economic motor as fast as possible.
On Friday, the EU lifted restrictions on the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro at his request. On Saturday, the first Air France passenger flight since April 1 landed in Abidjan.
But even if Gbagbo leaves, Ouattara’s ability to unify the West African state may be undermined by reports of atrocities since his forces, a collection of former rebels from the north, swept into Abidjan more than a week ago. Ouattara’s camp has denied involvement.