Azernews.Az

MINSK – The United Nations accused Belarus of breaking an arms embargo against Ivory Coast on Monday by delivering attack helicopters to incumbent Laurent Gbagbo in support of his bid to retain power, Reuters reported.

The alleged arms shipment comes as a week of gun battles between forces loyal to Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Ouattara, almost universally recognised as winner of a November 28 poll, risk pushing the top cocoa grower back to full-blown civil war.

Gunfire erupted close to the centre of Ivory Coast's commercial capital Abidjan on Monday, after a week of fighting in which a northern suburb was seized by insurgents who briefly knocked out the state TV and military communications transmitter.

Residents of Adjame, which lies just outside Abidjan's central business district, reported gunfire from around 0730 GMT, though it later died down. But a source at army headquarters said it was just to disperse a crowd.

November's election was meant to heal divisions sown by a 2002-3 civil war that left the country divided into a rebel-run north and government-run south, but has only worsened divisions.

Cocoa futures on ICE rose to a 32-year peak on Monday as fears of civil war increased.

"The secretary-general has learned with deep concern that three attack helicopters and related materiel from Belarus are reportedly being delivered at (Ivory Coast's capital) Yamoussoukro for Mr. Gbagbo's forces," the spokesman for the head of the United Nations said in a statement on Sunday.

"The first delivery arrived reportedly on a flight which landed this evening and additional flights are scheduled for tomorrow. This is a serious violation of the embargo against Ivory Coast which has been in place since 2004," he added.

There was no immediate comment from Gbagbo's camp, but Belarus denied violating the embargo.

"The Republic of Belarus has always strictly complied with every requirement and resolution of the UN Security Council. Belarus has an efficient system to control arms exports," Belarusian Foreign Ministry press secretary Andrei Savinykh told Russia's Interfax news agency.

The European Union has banned its ships from docking at Ivorian ports and exporters have largely followed a call by Ouattara for a temporary embargo on cocoa supplies.

Stocks of unexported cocoa at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 433,296 tonnes by February 7, owing to EU sanctions and a ban on exporting in place since Jan 24.

Other sanctions have paralysed the country's banking sector, prompting some analysts to forecast that the Ivorian economy will actually shrink in coming months until the crisis is over.

Major powers and most African neighbours have recognised Ouattara as president but Gbagbo has refused to step down.

Fighting has mostly been limited to the pro-Ouattara northern suburb of Abobo, where a transmitter broadcasting the pro-Gbagbo state-run RTI television station was knocked out on Sunday. It was back up and running on Monday after repairs.

An insurgent force which locals are calling the "invisible commandos" has taken control of large parts of Abobo, after a week of gun battles which military sources and witnesses said killed dozens. A more exact toll was not immediately available.

Residents said it was calm on Monday and that pro-Gbagbo forces had effectively vacated the area.

"There was firing with guns ... early morning. It continued for a long time," said taxi driver Adams Diarra, who lives in Adjame. "It's calm now."