UN rejects 'starving out' Gbagbo

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations will have nothing to do with any plan to starve out beseiged Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo, UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said Friday.

The UN force in Ivory Coast, UNOCI, has no mandate "to starve out anyone," Le Roy told reporters. "We have nothing to do with that. I must be very clear. We are not supporting that, having any part in that."

Fighters loyal to the internationally-recognized president Alassane Ouattara, who have surrounded Gbagbo in Abidjan, have suggested they would cut off food and water supplies to force him to give up.

Asked whether UN forces might give food and water to Gbagbo, Le Roy said no decision had been taken, "maybe." (AFP)