Abidjan: The head of the UN mission in Ivory Coast on Monday accused Laurent Gbagbo's regime of carrying out 'hostile acts' against foreign diplomats, harassing peacekeepers and disrupting their supplies.
"As from December 15, President Gbagbo's camp began to increase hostile acts against the international community, including the diplomatic corps, impartial forces and UNOCI," UN envoy Choi Young-jin told reporters.
Choi is UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's special representative in Ivory Coast, and civilian head of a mission which includes the 10,000-strong ONUCI peacekeeping operation.
He accused Gbagbo's troops of blocking access to the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, where Gbagbo's presidential rival Alassane Ouattara lives under UN protection, and "on and off denying access to food and water supply trucks."
He repeated a report that six gunmen in military uniform opened fire on a UN patrol on the night December 17 to 18, and said the Gbagbo camp had sent young men to intimidate UN staff in their homes at night.