Ivory Coast strongman maintains siege on rival
Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo's troops kept up their blockade of his presidential rival's headquarters, despite a vow to lift the siege as a prelude to talks to resolve the stand-off.
African leaders struggling to mediate an end to the crisis had said on Tuesday that Gbagbo promised to allow free access to the hotel that has become home to Alassane Ouattara, the man the world says won November's election.
With no visible progress in the confrontation between the two presidents that has seen at least 180 people killed, mediators said that "there should be no vacuum" as they scrambled to send another crisis mission to Abidjan.
West African military chiefs have set in motion plans to oust Gbagbo if negotiations fail.
Security and Defence Forces (FDS) roadblocks barring access to the Golf Hotel, where Ouattara and his camp have been besieged since violence flared after the disputed November election, were still in place at 1000 GMT.
The hotel has been protected by around 800 United Nations peacekeepers as well as former rebels allied with Ouattara since Gbagbo troops shot dead several of his supporters as they marched on state television on 16 December.
The African Union's mediator, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, said in a statement that "Mr Gbagbo has kept his word on the blockade which he lifted at around midday yesterday."
Odinga's spokesman said that the premier would be heading for AU headquarters to brief the continental body on the mediators' mission before returning to Abidjan "very soon."
Both men have been sworn in as president and Gbagbo claims there is an international plot to depose him after more than a decade in power.
Gbagbo, who retains control of the army, rejected an ECOWAS attempt last week to persuade him to step down and end the crisis that has sparked international condemnation and fears of a civil war.
The UN says at least 179 people have been killed in post-election violence but that it has been barred from investigating reports of mass graves.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast demanded an end to what it said was Gbagbo's latest hostile media campaign against it after civilians allegedly wounded by UN troops were paraded on state television.
