The government of France has recommended that “all French people who can temporarily leave the Ivory Coast, should leave”, said Wednesday, Dec. 22 its spokesman, Mr Baroin . Reporting on the work of the council of ministers, Mr Baroin gave as reasons for this, a “precautionary measure” and “prudence” .
About the Ivorian crisis that erupted after the second round of presidential elections, he referred to “indisputable source of concern” . “Although foreigners are not threatened so far, it seems to require a renewal of caution, we therefore reiterate our board was to postpone travel plans to Côte d’Ivoire ” said Baroin, who is also minister of the budget.
“We reiterate our recommendation in addition to the French site to comply with the instructions of prudence and (…) as a precaution we recommend that finally all the French who are able to leave Ivory Coast temporarily pending normalization of the situation should do so ” , he added. About 15,000 French citizens live in Ivory Coast.
EMERGENCY MEETING
President Nicolas Sarkozy held a cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire. The Prime Minister, François Fillon , and Michèle Alliot-Marie (Foreign Affairs), Alain Juppe (defense), Baroin (budget) and the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Edouard Guillaud , had been invited .
In Abidjan, Laurent Gbagbo reiterated Tuesday he was “president” of Côte d’Ivoire, but expressed willingness to discuss with his rival, Alassane Ouattara and the international community that supports him, to try and break a crisis which at least fifty people have been killed, according to the UN.
