Ivory Coast state TV cut off in some areas

Reports from the Ivory Coast say that the TV service of state-run Radio-Télévision Ivoirienne (RTI) is no longer broadcasting in six regional cities. The main station is under the control of Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to step down from the office of president despite losing the recent election to his rival Alassane Ouattara. Yesterday the United Nations officially recognised Mr Ouattara as president of the country, and this may have been the reason for some of the regional stations deciding to stop broadcasting RTI programmes, which have been filled with propaganda in support of Mr Gbagbo in recent days.

Signals from RTI’s main studios in Abidjan are fed by satellite to the regions, which rebroadcast them on terrestrial transmitters. Last night, the terrestrial transmitters were still switched on, but carrying a ‘pas de signal’ [no signal] notice in red, indicating that the feed from Abidjan had been switched off on purpose.

Last Thursday, Ouattara supporters marched on the RTI headquarters in an attempt to take back the station and install a new station director, but troops loyal to Mr Gbagbo opened fire on the marchers, killing at least 30 people on the streets in broad daylight. Now it appears that the UN decision to recognise Mr Ouattara as president has given a new impetus to the efforts to force Mr Gbagbo out of office.

(Source: Multiple press reports)