Ivory Coast leaders' war of words

Gbagbo (L) and Soro: Outspoken comments

Political leaders on both sides of the dispute in Ivory Coast have been attacking each other and defending their own positions via the broadcast and print media.

President Laurent Gbagbo on TV in Abidjan:

"I know two reasons behind the present deadlock... There are external reasons, because it is obvious to all of us that it is not these kids we are seeing who declared war on Ivory Coast... it is not these kids who gathered enough money to purchase weapons to attack Ivory Coast ... There are, therefore, people, outside - The first reason behind the deadlock comes from the fact that those people outside have not reached their goal...

"The second reason is internal. Now, they have given guns and pistols to these kids. They told them: Go to Abidjan, it will take 48 hours to overthrow the regime, then we will come in.

The houseboys have turned rebels with Kalashnikov machine-guns in their hands Laurent Gbagbo

"The kids have now been here for a year, but they still have the guns and pistols in their hands. They are not receiving any more money from outside...

"They are the houseboys, those who were houseboys in those villas, and they are the rebels. The houseboys have turned rebels with Kalashnikov machine-guns in their hands. Now, here are houseboys who are living in his masters' houses, who are swimming in their masters' swimming pools, and sleep on their employers' beds, things they had never dreamed of doing! Now, asking a houseboy who does not pay any light or water bills to lay down his arms is like wishing his death."

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New Forces leader Guillaume Soro on Radio France Internationale:

"You know very well that after the signing of the Marcoussis accord, the president had to delegate part of his powers to the reconciliation government. This, for us, is an irreducible demand. Currently, unfortunately not only can the prime minister not issue decrees, but we, the ministers, have become skittles around a table with no meaningful powers.

"Second, the president unilaterally imposed and appointed two ministers, of security and defence. For the New Forces, the defence and security ministries are a matter of life and death since they are concerned with disarmament and we cannot disarm in front of people we do not trust.

Withdrawing to our zones to think of protecting our people becomes an imperative Guillaume Soro

"For us it is a question of starting again from zero and reaching a new agreement, which we would like the international community to guarantee.

"Our position is very simple. We have a population, we control 60% of the territory, and we think we shall not be idle at all... I am not issuing a threat, but it is a warning. It is obvious that the armaments amassed by Gbagbo make us conclude that the Ivorian Popular Front regime could carry out a total war, so withdrawing to our zones to think of protecting our people becomes an imperative...

"Our people have suffered for a year. The enemy's strategy has been to stifle these zones economically and we do not have the right to remain inactive."

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Notre Voie [ruling party daily published in Abidjan]:

"By accepting to make... sacrifices, President Laurent Gbagbo was motivated by only one thing: to achieve peace in his country... He even asked Ivorians to accord the rebels amnesty, they who killed, raped, stole, looted and caused so many to become homeless. Yet the rebels have no... regret for what they did... They feel they have made too many concessions. The Ivorian people are not fooled...

"The rebels do not want to disarm, and all the demands they keep churning out one after another are only designed to give them time to better prepare to return to war."

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Le Sauveur [New Forces online newspaper from Bouake]:

"The New Forces [decision to suspend]... their participation in any activity of the unity government... is a courageous decision in view of the numerous blockages created by President Gbagbo and his followers, and also with regard to the international community's 'blameworthy' silence... President Gbagbo continues to use trickery with his opponents... The Marcoussis accord... is in peril."

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.