Abidjan - The mission from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), which was in Abidjan on Tuesday to ask incumbent Laurent Gbagbo to cede power to his rival Alassane Ouattara, has given him a second chance of diplomacy.
The mission of three African presidents left Cote d'Ivoire on Wednesday without any sign of success. However, the mission has promised a second chance to find a peaceful solution to Cote d'Ivoire's crisis.
"We shall come back, the Ecowas president will negotiate a new date for the return of the mission. We hope that this will be as soon as possible," Cape Verde's President Pedro Pires said at the end of the mission.
There was no official communication from the three presidents who were expected to deliver a report on Wednesday to the current Ecowas president, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.
Sierra Leone's President Ernest Koroma, Cape Verde's President Pires and Benin's President Yayi Boni were dispatched to Abidjan to persuade Gbagbo to peacefully leave power.
Having arrived in the afternoon, they first met with the special representative of the UN secretary general in Cote d'Ivoire, Choi Young jin, who explained to them Cote d'Ivoire's electoral process and the methodology used to arrive at the certification of the results.
The Ecowas emissaries then met with Gbagbo at the presidential palace and later met with Ouattara at the Golf Hotel. All the meetings were held in camera and the three presidents later at night held an hour-long meeting with Gbagbo at the presidential palace.
"I want to thank you very much. I hope to see you very soon," Gbagbo told them on the steps of the presidential palace.
A well placed source said that both camps still maintained their hardline positions, even though they had accepted the Ecowas mediation.
In another development, Gbagbo's camp has reportedly threatened to expel ambassadors of countries already recognising diplomats named by his rival Ouattara.
The United Nations has recognised the representative named by Ouattara to the institution's headquarters in New York. Belgium has also accepted his ambassador. France is still looking at the possibilities of recognising Ouattara's ambassador.
Gbagbo is facing mounting pressure to step down after the November 28 presidential run-off, in which the electoral commission says Ouattara had the victory. But the Constitutional Council rejected the results, declaring Gbagbo as the winner.
The country is facing the danger of another civil war with tensions escalating in the standoff between two presidents and two governments. The long-delayed elections were expected to end the division following the 2002-2003 civil war. But the post-election violence proves a similar line between the New Forces-controlled north and Gbagbo's south.
