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Six choke to death on NY rice cakes Schwarzenegger grants killer clemency 'Biggest ever' fox caught US Navy to probe lewd videos Birds and fish die en masse in Arkansas Arnold Schwarzenegger steps down more Most Popular News African mediators have held 'useful' talks with Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo, who is facing the threat of military action if he does not stand down in favour of his rival after disputed polls.
'We will return,' Benin President Boni Yayi said as he stood alongside a smiling Gbagbo after about two hours of talks on Monday aimed at ending his deadly standoff with the man the world says is president, Alassane Ouattara.
For the second time in a week, Yayi and the presidents of Sierra Leone and Cape Verde were in Ivory Coast's commercial capital, Abidjan, as mediators for the regional bloc, ECOWAS, in a bid to end the bitter crisis.
Joining them on Monday was Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, representing the African Union.
'It was useful,' Odinga said of the talks, with the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) having already said the only alternative to Gbagbo stepping down is sending in troops.
The mediators then headed to meet Ouattara, who is holed up in an Abidjan hotel resort protected by UN forces, before holding another round of talks with Gbagbo. Nothing has emerged of what the leaders are discussing.
The current ECOWAS head, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, has said the body will decide by Tuesday how to handle the impasse, amid unconfirmed reports of mass graves filled with Ouattara supporters since the disputed November 28 election.
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.
Ivory Coast's Independent Electoral Commission as well as the UN declared Ouattara the winner, while the Constitutional Council said Gbagbo won.
Both men have been sworn in as president and Gbagbo has said there is an international plot to depose him.
Gbagbo said in his New Year's address 'we are not going to give up' and calls for him to quit amounted to 'an attempted coup d'etat carried out under the banner of the international community'.
Sierra Leone's Information Minister Ibrahim Ben Kargbo said ahead of the talks that the envoys' task was to 'give Mr Gbagbo the necessary sweets to make it easy for him to step down.'
Ben Kargbo did not elaborate on the inducements, but said: 'We are trying to create a peaceful exit, for him to leave the office in a respectable manner.'
'We are going strictly by the communique circulated on Christmas Eve clearly stating that President Gbagbo should step down. This is our working document; there is no compromise,' Ben Kargbo told AFP.
West African regional military chiefs met in Abuja last week and set in motion plans to oust Gbagbo if negotiations fail, according to a Nigerian defence spokesman.
A follow-up meeting to finetune the 'last-resort' plan is scheduled for Mali on January 17 and 18.
Tensions have risen steadily since Gbagbo and Ouattara both claimed victory in the presidential run-off vote that it was hoped would end a decade of crisis in Ivory Coast but has instead sent thousands fleeing the west African nation.
The UN says that at least 179 people have been killed in post-election violence but it has been unable to fully investigate because of attacks on its personnel, while UN rapporteurs said they feared the violations being committed amounted to 'crimes against humanity'.
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