BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
28/02/2011
UN Calls Ivory Coast Meeting After Reported Belarus Arms Shipment
Belarus is sending three attack helicopters to military forces supporting Ivory Coast's longtime ruler, Laurent Gbagbo, in violation of an international arms embargo.
That's according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who on February 27 called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the matter.
Gbagbo has refused to cede power since Ivory Coast's election commission declared challenger Alassane Ouattara the winner of November's election, and armed fighting between the two sides has raised fears of a new civil war in the African country.
A statement from Ban's office said the reported Belarusian arms shipment was "a serious violation" of the embargo against Ivory Coast in place since 2004.
A first delivery of helicopters reportedly arrived late on February 27, with additional flights expected today.
The Belarusian authorities have firmly denied the accusations.
"We are concerned by this statement. The Republic of Belarus has always had a very responsible attitude toward respecting all the decisions of the UN Security Council," Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Savinykh told RFE/RL.
"We declare that no attack helicopters were delivered to the Ivory Coast from Belarus."
Savinykh added that Minsk had doubts about the UN statement's authenticity.
"There is a need to find out where this material comes from and how it appeared on the UN's official website," he said. "It may have no connection at all with the UN secretary-general's office."
Fears Of Escalation
The scandal comes a week after renewed street battles in Ivory Coast left several dozen people dead.
The UN refugee agency said today that this weekend's fighting in Abidjan had pushed some 30,000 civilians to flee the city.
The helicopter shipment would give Gbagbo air power after the country's air force was destroyed by the French military during the country's earlier civil war, which began in 2002.
This could pose a danger for Ouattara, who has taken refuge inside Abidjan's Golf Hotel together with hundreds of his supporters.
Belarus itself drew international condemnation in December when its authoritarian president, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, won a fourth term in an election widely regarded as fraudulent.
written by Claire Bigg, with reporting from RFE/RL's Belarus Service and news agencies
Source:
http://www.rferl.org/content/belarus_arms_un_ivory_coast/2322901.html
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