More bloodshed feared if defeated leader does not stand down following disputed election
The EU is set to approve sanctions on Ivory Coast's president Laurent Gbagbo, whose supporters have vowed to fight to the death to keep him in power.
Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for the EU's external action service, said Gbagbo, his wife and 17 other Ivorians are on a sanctions list awaiting approval by EU member states, probably towards the end of this week.
The UN says more than 50 people have been killed following an election in which opposition leader Alassane Ouattara's victory over Gbagbo was recognised by the UN, the US, the African Union and former colonial power France.
Last week the EU said it would impose sanctions, including an assets freeze and visa ban, on Gbagbo and his wife if he had not conceded defeat by yesterday.
But Gbagbo's supporters have dismissed the growing international pressure as meddling. Charles Bl� Goud�, leader of the fervently pro-Gbagbo Young Patriots movement, told a rally last night: "We have a sole battle: to ensure our dignity, our country's sovereignty is respected. It is up to us to choose our president. This battle that we began in 2002 ? we are ready to die for it."
Bl� Goud�, who was named this month as Gbagbo's youth minister, has been on a UN sanctions list since 2006 for making public statements advocating violence.
At the rally in an Abidjan suburb, close to the French military base, he urged supporters: "Be ready for the battle. When you go home, tell your brother, your sister, your husband, that they should prepare to liberate their country."
Ouattara has won almost unanimous international backing after his victory in the 28 November presidential poll was overturned on grounds of alleged fraud by the country's constitutional council, led by a staunch Gbagbo ally, which erased nearly half a million votes in Ouattara strongholds.
About 5,000 Ivorians have already fled to neighbouring countries as concerns grow that an election designed to draw a line under a 2002-2003 civil war will instead reignite conflict between north and south.
Gbagbo's government has called on UN and French troops to quit the country, accusing them of interference in its internal affairs, but UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and France have defied the call and said they will stay. The UN has nearly 10,000 troops and France more than 900.
About 800 UN peacekeepers are protecting the compound from which Ouattara is trying to govern the country. They are in turn encircled by troops loyal to Gbagbo.
"The UN does not recognise his authority," said, Patrick Achi, a spokesman for Ouattara's rival government.
"There is one president, Ouattara, and he sent a letter to Ban Ki-moon asking him to maintain forces here until the peace process is over."
Gbagbo retains control of the army and the key institutions, including the state broadcaster.
Talks are scheduled at the UN security council today on a new mandate for the UN force, whose current role allowing it to protect civilians under "imminent threat" of violence runs out on 31 December.
"I am in no doubt that it will be renewed," said Achi. "The question is ? will they change it to an intervention mandate to support the president ? that's what we are asking for."
He added that he hoped they would get the go-ahead to pursue offensive operations against Ivorian troops committing abuses, as they can against militia groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
An attempt by Ouattara supporters last week to seize the state TV building ended in bloodshed as pro-Gbagbo forces used live rounds to put down the protest. Gbagbo's government has denied using excessive force and claimed some protesters were armed.
The UN said yesterday it had received hundreds of reports of people being abducted from their homes at night by armed assailants in military uniform.
Navi Pillay, UN high commissioner for human rights, cited evidence of "massive" violations in Ivory Coast, saying more than 50 people had been killed in the previous three days and raising concern over reports of deaths in detention.
"When people are victims of extrajudicial killings there must be an investigation, and there must be accountability," Pillay said.
People had been abducted and later "found dead in questionable circumstances", she added.
Ouattara's camp and local rights groups say death squads have been hunting down his supporters and killing them.
Foreign radio and TV stations have been blocked amid the election dispute.
Heavily armed soldiers have shut down printing presses at leading opposition newspapers and even SMS text messaging has been halted.
A single pirate radio station is trying to get Ouattara's message out.
Gbagbo's security forces have become hostile towards reporters. At least 10 foreign journalists have been detained, some of whom have had their cameras seized, and many are avoiding reporting in the streets for fear of police harassment.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said: "The authorities are treating journalists as undesired witnesses and are trying to prevent them from covering what is going on.
"They are reducing the news coverage available to Ivorians by banning the opposition media after already suspending international broadcast media."
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