AFRICA/CÔTE D'IVOIRE - “A disquieting calm reigns, just like before the storm,” the Archbishop of Abidjan tells Fides

Abidjan (Agenzia Fides) - “The situation is calm in the sense that the shootings have reduced, but it is a disquieting calm, not at all reassuring. It is very tense. The people are barricaded in their homes. In some districts they have no water, electricity or food. We are awaiting the finale to the battle. It is an indescribable tragedy,” says Archbishop Jean-Pierre Kutwa of Abidjan, the economic capital of Côte d'Ivoire, shocked about the assault by the Republican forces aligned with President-elect Alassane Ouattara, aiming to take the three landmarks of Ivorian power (the Presidential Palace, the residence of the President and the headquarters of the national radio and television network), still in the hands of Laurent Gbagbo, the outgoing President who does not recognise his defeat during the elections held in November 2010. “Without control of these three structures Ouattara can not establish himself in the eyes of Ivorians as the legitimate authority of the Country,” explain local Church sources to Fides. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 4/4/2011)