ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Ivory Coast's internationally recognized leader called for a one-month ban on cocoa exports from the world's largest producer starting Monday, a move that could cut off one of the last sources of funding to the incumbent leader who refuses to cede power.
The statement from Alassane Ouattara's camp comes at the height of the cocoa export season, though it is unclear whether the ban will be heeded by cocoa growers. Despite Ouattara's global support, it is also uncertain how much authority he wields over the industry amid a power struggle with his rival.
"The government informs all the economic operators of the immediate halt to all coffee and cocoa exports," the statement said late Sunday, adding that anyone who didn't follow the order would be "subject to national and international sanctions."
Government statistics show the country exported $2.53 billion worth of cocoa in 2009.
Cocoa prices shot higher after the call for the one-month ban on the bean used in chocolate. Cocoa futures on the Liffe commodities' exchange in London were up 3.9 percent Monday to 2,223 pounds per ton, the highest since early August, after trading as high as 2,290. Cocoa traded as low as 1,770 pounds in November.
In a joint statement, the Brussels-based European Cocoa Association and the Federal of Cocoa Commerce Ltd. in London said they hoped for a quick resolution of the political tensions.
"Time, patience and a common sense approach to the difficulties and delays that may arise are required, but most importantly, all those whose interests are impacted should remain calm in order that we sustain no long term damage to Ivorian farming communities and the cocoa industry," the two industry groups said.
While the United Nations, U.S., France and the African Union have endorsed Ouattara's presidency, he is attempting to run the country from a hotel being protected by U.N. peacekeepers. Incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, who has been in power for a decade, still controls the country's military and security forces.
Port authorities in Ivory Coast are believed to be staunchly pro-Gbagbo, but both men draw support from the West African nation's cocoa farmers.
The export ban is aimed at further stepping up pressure on Gbagbo, who lost a key ally on Saturday when the president of the regional central bank resigned amid accusations that he was funneling funds to Gbagbo despite a bank order to cut him off from state coffers.
Gbagbo appears to still have enough money to pay the civil service, as salaries began to be paid on Monday in the commercial capital of Abidjan. Other civil servants are due to be paid later this week.
This is the second month that at least some of the salaries have been paid, but it is unclear how long Gbagbo will be able to stay solvent with dwindling access to finances. Ouattara's allies hope for mass defections if Gbagbo cannot pay civil servants and soldiers in the military.
Gbagbo's government already has tried to order U.N. peacekeepers out of the country, claiming that they are no longer impartial after the U.N. certified election results showing Ouattara won the Nov. 28 presidential runoff vote. The U.N. Security Council voted last week though to send an additional 2,000 troops.
The 15-nation West African bloc of countries known as ECOWAS has threatened to oust Gbagbo by force if negotiations fail, but has set no deadline for such an intervention.
Nigerian newspaper ThisDay published a guest editorial Monday written by Nigeria's Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia, calling on the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution sanctioning the use of force to remove Gbagbo.
"Gbagbo must be made to understand that there is a very real prospect of overwhelming military capability bearing down on him and his cohorts," the column reads. "It is only then that he will give serious consideration to the demands to step down."
On Monday, lawyers filed two separate lawsuits in attempts to stop ECOWAS from sending troops into Ivory Coast. Three organizations in Ivory Coast filed one suit asking the ECOWAS court to void a Dec. 7 decision that suspended Ivory Coast's membership in the group.
The other suit, by Abuja-based lawyer and human rights activist Godswill Mrakpor, seeks an injunction to stop military intervention by the regional bloc. Mrakpor told The Associated Press the suit comes as ECOWAS has "not explored the peaceful alternatives" to using force.
The court has agreed to hear both cases in early February in Abuja, where ECOWAS is based.
Ivory Coast was divided into a rebel-controlled north and a loyalist south by a 2002-2003 civil war. The country was officially reunited in a 2007 peace deal, but the long-delayed presidential election was intended to help reunify the nation. Instead, the U.N. says at least 260 people have been killed in violence since the vote.
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Associated Press writers Robert Barr in London; Bashir Adigun in Abuja, Nigeria; and Jon Gambrell in Lagos, Nigeria contributed to this report.
