Angola and South Africa not keen on military action in Ivory Coast, Odinga

Abidjan, 21 Jan – (ANA) - Angola and South Africa are seen as potential weak points in efforts to force incumbent Laurent Gbagbo to step down, sources close to the African Union (AU) representative Raila Odinga have said.

Odinga, who is also Kenyan Prime Minister, is expected the meet leaders of the two countries after his latest shuttle diplomacy failed to make a breakthrough in the stand-off during talks with Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Ouattara.

"Angola is the weakest partner in AU unity," said a diplomat who is following the Ivory Coast crisis, adding that South Africa has also not weighed in as strongly as some had hoped.

"The message, however, is that Gbagbo is an unreasonable operator and we need to keep AU unity and possibly consider sanctions," the diplomat said.

The world's top cocoa grower has been paralysed since a November 28 presidential election, which U.N.-certified electoral commission results showed Ouattara won but Gbagbo, who retains the control of the military, has rejected.

After leaving Ivory Coast, Odinga met the presidents of Ghana, Mali and Burkina Faso. The countries are all members of regional body ECOWAS, which has called on Gbagbo to step down and threatened to oust him if he fails to do so.

Ghana, which has hundreds of thousands of citizens in Ivory Coast, said last week it was neutral in the conflict and warned against a military intervention.

However, Ghana's President John Atta Mills has since thrown his weight behind AU and ECOWAS efforts, including the possible use of force, though only as a last resort, Odinga said. (ANA)

FA/ANA/21 January 2011------