Minister: Disputed Ivory Coast leader rejects threat, won't step down

The disputed head of the Ivory Coast will not step down, one of his key ministers said Saturday, despite the threat by West African leaders to use military force to force him out.

A day earlier, a statement from the 15-member Economic Community of West African States said its 15 members would not hesitate to use "legitimate force" if necessary to defuse an escalating crisis in the Ivory Coast.

But Alcide Djedje, the foreign affairs minister for incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo, on Saturday dismissed the threat as part of a Western plot spearheaded by France. He said that his regime views the prospect of outside military action unlikely, claiming that the West African group's members would be reluctant to send soldiers into the Ivory Coast.

The organization's move was the latest to isolate Gbagbo, amid sweeping international sentiment that he is not the Ivory Coast's rightfully elected leader and that his forces have perpetrated human rights abuses against his opponents.

The United Nations, African Union, European Union and numerous individual nations have called for Gbagbo to step down, with many also calling out his regime for its actions against political foes in the past week that have reportedly killed scores of people.

Still, the call from the Economic Community was especially significant, given that the Ivory Coast is a member and its mention of possible military action.

"In the event that Mr. Gbagbo fails to heed this immutable demand of ECOWAS, the Community would be left with no alternative but to take other measures, including the use of legitimate force, to achieve the goals of the Ivorian people," the group said in a statement following an emergency meeting Friday in Abuja, Nigeria.

Under the leadership of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, the regional bloc will coordinate, "without delay," a meeting of defense ministers from member countries "to plan future actions, including the provision of security along the Cote d'Ivoire-Liberia border," the statement said.

This back-and-forth comes as the security situation in the Ivory Coast continues to deteriorate.

The United Nations refugee agency said Saturday that about 14,000 Ivory Coast residents escaping that country have fled to eastern Liberia, some walking hours if not days before boarding barges on rivers bordering the West African nation.