Gbagbo discusses

Go discusses I.Coast exit with Mauritania : AU

Tue Apr 5, 2011 1:39pm GMT

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo has been discussing a possible exit from power with Mauritania's president, the Commissioner of the African Union's Peace and Security Council (PSC) said on Tuesday.

Gbagbo, who has refused to step aside since an election last November, is under fierce attack in Adidjan from the forces of Alassane Ouattara, widely recognised internationally as the winner.

Asked whether Gbagbo would be willing to step aside, Ramtane Lamamra said: "That's the understanding of the President of Mauritania who has been personally in touch with him."

"What you said corresponds to the state of mind that we can detect now in the discussions between the President of Mauritania and Mr Gbagbo," Lamamra told reporters after briefing the PSC on Ivory Coast.

Mauritania is the current chair of the PSC.

Lamamra said the African Union hoped the situation would come to an end in a way that would lay a solid foundation for peace, democracy and reconciliation in Ivory Coast.

"We'll certainly not be happy with an immediate solution that would divide more deeply the nation, divide the country, divide the armed forces, and therefore lay the foundation for a protracted civil war in the country," he said.