Kerry had closed door meeting of the SFRC with Ban Ki Moon on Cote D'Ivorie

[karynnj]

There was a press conference afterward where Ban Ki Moon reiterated that it was Gbagdo's "last chance".



http://www.undispatch.com/ban-ki-moon-to-laurent-gbagbo-this-is-your-last-chance

Kerry issued a statement on Gbagdo a few days ago, http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gsVq_I0wm5noyrUPEBih-e15WsoQ?docId=CNG.bcf74a4d0a9bb29afe4e98cfe57a8c2d.e91

Not all the SFRC agrees on this - one Senator supports Ghagdo, things the election was fradulent and wnats hearings - and that Senator is Senator Inhofe. Calling himself the Senate's leading expert on Africa, he wrote Hillary Clinton saying that Ghagdo won. Ghagdo, like Inhofe, is an evangelical Christian. His experience with Africa is because he does missionary work there - for Doug Coe of the Fellowship.

Inhofe has been traveling to Africa regularly since the late 1990s and, while the trips are paid for by the taxpayer and typically involve some official business, the senator also engages in missionary work. He has been to Ivory Coast nine times and knows Gbagbo personally. That’s why, early on in the post-election crisis, when the State Department was frantically looking for intermediaries to reach out to Gbagbo to try to convince him to leave the country peacefully, the Obama administration asked Inhofe to talk to Gbagbo. But, according to a source familiar with the situation, Inhofe declined to do so…

The other wrinkle in all this is that Inhofe and Gbagbo share a connection to the Fellowship. Inhofe has said that he began taking his missionary trips to Africa at the request of Doug Coe, the so-called “stealthy Billy Graham” who leads the Fellowship. Ivory Coast has long been one of a handful of African countries that is “of special interest” to the Fellowship, according to Jeff Sharlet’s book about the group.

Inhofe’s director of African affairs, who accompanies the senator on his trips to the continent, is also a missionary. And the senator has spoken of visiting presidents of countries including Ivory Coast in order “to meet in the spirit of Jesus.” That religious relationship may help explain Inhofe’s support for Gbagbo in the current crisis.

http://www.undispatch.com/why-is-senator-inhofe-supporting-laurent-gbagbo

Here is another article on Inhofe's views. http://jenkinsear.com/2011/04/04/james-inhofe-exploits-massacre-doubles-down-on-gbagbo-support/ (Where they refer to Inhofe as a senior member of the SFRC - which I guess he is although he joined in 2009 and never seems to attend meetings. The scary thing is that this is a Christian/Muslim split.

[karynnj]

1. Another article on the meeting

Budget issues - including funds for the UN were discussed.

Another good picture:


http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/UNs-Ban-Gbagbo-Must-Go-in-Ivory-Coast-119423019.html