Foreign and Military Affairs

China urges end of violence in Cote d'Ivoire

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-31 06:41

UNITED NATIONS - China on Wednesday called on all parties concerned in Cote d'Ivoire to immediately end violence and armed confrontation in the West African country and resolve their differences through dialogue and consultations.  

The statement came as Li Baodong, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, was speaking at an open Security Council meeting after the 15-nation UN body unanimously adopted a resolution to impose sanctions against Cote d'Ivoire's Laurent Gbagbo, who had refused to hand over power to the internationally recognized president.

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In the new resolution, the Security Council "demands an immediate end to the violence against civilians" in Cote d'Ivoire, and "decides to adopt targeted sanctions" against Gbagbo and his inner circle.

Li voiced China's grave concerns at the continued worsening of the security situation in Cote d'Ivoire.

"We call on all the Ivorian parties to immediately cease the violence and armed confrontation and seek to settle their differences through dialogue and consultations," Li said.

"We believe in the peaceful settlement to the crisis which resulted from the elections in Cote d'Ivoire through peaceful means," he said.  "We appreciate and support the efforts of the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States to achieve political settlement to the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire."

Since Nov 28, 2010, Cote d'Ivoire has been torn apart between two presidents, the country's electoral body in December 2010 declared Outtara as winner of the presidential election, but incumbent President Gbagbo who was declared as the winner by the Constitutional Council has refused to relinquish presidency.

Also in his speech at the Security Council, Li called on all the parties concerned in the West African country "to provide active and comprehensive cooperation" to such efforts.

"China's position regarding the International Criminal Court ( ICC) remains unchanged," he said.  

"China always maintains that the UN peacekeeping operations should strictly abide by the principle of neutrality," Li said. " We hope that the UN Operations in Cote d'Ivoire will fulfil its mandate in a strict and comprehensive manner, help the efforts for peaceful settlement to the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire and avoid becoming a party in the conflict."