ABIDJAN — Thousands of supporters of Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo rallied on Saturday against Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore's presence on an African panel mediating peace in the west African country.
Charles Ble Goude, dubbed the "General of the Streets" for his ability to draw large crowds and stage noisy demonstrations, called the rally and was to speak during it.
On Friday he described the rally as "a meeting for the dignity of Africa, to say no to the arrival of Blaise Compaore here in Abidjan at the heart of the panel."
"We are meeting... to challenge those who are the evil in Africa," he added, accusing Compaore of having given "food and shelter to the rebels".
Gbagbo supporters claim that the Burkinabe leader covertly supported a failed 2002 uprising against Gbagbo that effectively split Ivory Coast in half.
Ble Goude said Compaore, who was appointed an African Union mediator last month to resolve the dragging political crisis in Ivory Coast, had become a "complicator" instead by calling on an African force to "attack Ivory Coast".
Expert-level officials of the five-member mediation panel, which also includes the presidents of Chad, South Africa, Mauritania and Tanzania, are due to arrive in Abidjan on Sunday.
The African Union has tasked the panel with securing a binding solution by the end of February to the crisis in Ivory Coast, where Gbagbo is refusing to step down as president in favour of Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognised winner of disputed November 28 elections.
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