Abidjan - The United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI) on Tuesday received three telephone calls from senior military personalities, who indicated that an order to end fighting had been issued to the Defence and Security Forces (FDS, pro-Laurent Gbagbo), according to a statement obtained by Xinhua on Tuesday.
The order, which was also directed at the special forces, required them to hand over weapons to ONUCI forces in exchange for protection.
The statement specified that the three personalities are general Philippe Mangou, the FDS chief of general staff, general Thiape Kassarate Edouard, the head of the national gendarmerie and general Bruno Dogbo Ble, who is the commander of the Republican Guard.
The same statement indicated that ONUCI had given orders to its troops to receive weapons from everyone and offer protection to disarmed FDS officers as well as those from the special forces.
Forces backing Alassane Ouattara launched "a final battle" against the presidential palace on Monday to force Gbagbo to quit office and pass the presidency to Ouattara, who won the presidential runoff on November 28, 2010.
The international community, including the UN Security Council, has called on Gbagbo to hand over power and let Ouattara assume office.
Ouattara's force entered Abidjan, the capital, on Thursday. Fight between the two camps has forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee to neighboring countries. - BuaNews-Xinhua
