Ivory Coast president nationalizes coffee and cocoa industry
Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, who is fighting to keep a political title the United Nations says isn't his, on Monday nationalized the nation's two main cash crops, coffee and cocoa, according to state-run television. In a statement read on air, the government announced that "the purchase of coffee and cocoa from producers and producer groups is done exclusively by the state on the entire national territory." "The export of products of the coffee-cocoa sector is carried out by the state, by any legal person mandated by the state or holder of an exporter license," the government announced. "Approved exporters get air yeezy their cocoa beans and green coffee from the state or any legal person mandated by the state." The Ivory Coast is the world's largest supplier of cocoa beans. Gbagbo, the incumbent, has refused to give up power since an electoral commission declared challenger Alassane Ouattara the winner of the November presidential election. Gbagbo's refusal to step down has sparked violent clashes between supporters of the two rivals, resulting in the deaths of 365 people since December. Ouattara's "New Forces" loyalists claimed on the group's website to have taken the west Ivory Coast city of Toulepleu after intense fighting with Gbagbo forces on Sunday. Gbagbo's ability to maintain control over the nation's coffee and cocoa industry could be key to his staying in power. Coffee and cocoa experts have provided the embattled leader with a lucrative revenue source to pay loyal civil servants and military officers. In January, Ouattara called for a ban on cocoa and coffee experts in an effort to shut down that revenue stream and force Gbagbo out of office.2032 In his interview with Al Arabiya (see 1949) Saadi Gaddafi appeared to partly blame his brother, Saif al-Islam, for the unrest. He said Saif al-Islam and ministers had been charged with addressing concerns over issues such as rising prices, but that "there are things they did not do", Reuters reports. 2025 Phil Campion, a former SAS lance corporal, told the BBC the UK mission into Benghazi should be seen as successful. "A team has gone into a hostile environment against overwhelming odds, they've done their job. Everybody who's gone in came out again." He said that once detained, the mission had "come to a diplomatic solution to what was a very difficult situation". 2018 LibyaInMe tweets: "Good to see NATO, US, Gulf countries speaking out more today than ever in the past 3 weeks. Hope something can be done." 2014 Our correspondent says he and his colleagues were themselves detained on Monday at a military checkpoint. "We we were trying to get to one of the closest towns outside Tripoli where there was heavy bombardment and we know there was loss of life. We were held several hours before being turned back."