French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe warned Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo that he was living his "last days" as head of state and that the pressure on him to hand power to his rival Alassane Ouattara would soon "force his departure", dpa reported.
Speaking on the sidelines of a convention in Bordeaux, Juppe said: "Gbagbo is living his last days as head of state. The unanimous pressure that is being exerted on him will, from this time onward, force his departure. That's what we wish."
"His stubbornness is criminal. He must go," Juppe said.
The remarks represent a hardening of France's tone towards Gbagbo, who has defied the international community's calls to step aside in favour of Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of last November's elections.
France has 12,000 nationals living in the former French colony, mostly in the commercial capital of Abidjan, the scene of fierce fighting between Ouattara's forces and Gbagbo loyalists since Thursday.
...