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Ivory Coast ceasefire tabled
Ivory Coast presidential-incumbent Laurent Gbagbo is calling for an immediate ceasefire in the face of rapid advances by forces loyal to election-winner Alassane Ouattara.
"We call for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of talks under the mediation of the African Union high representative. Failing which, we will use our legitimate right of defence," a Gbagbo spokesman was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
"We have adopted a strategy of tactical withdrawal,” he added. “We hope that dialogue will open very shortly. It is useless to head into conflict and increase the number of victims."
The call follows in the wake of pro-Ouattara fighters having gained ground following two offensives from their northern bases.
In the west, pro-Ouattara forces are reported to have taken the major town of Daloa town of Duekoue, while in the east, the forces say they have captured the town of Bondoukou.
Daloa is the capital of Ivory Coast's Centre-West region. It is the biggest town to be attacked so far, and opens the way to the cocoa region, the capital Yamoussoukro, and the cocoa-exporting port of San Pedro.
In the town of Doekoue, up to 30,000 people took refuge in a church compound to escape the fighting.
Gbagbo refuses to stand down despite the UN saying he lost November's poll.
So far, some one million people have fled the violence - mostly in Abidjan - and at least 462 people have been killed since December, according to the UN.
