The office of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon accused Belarus of defying a U.N. arms embargo.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- A spokesman for Ban Ki-moon says the first delivery arrived Sunday
- An arms embargo has been in place since 2004, Ban’s spokesman says
(CNN) — The United Nations on Monday accused Belarus of defying an arms embargo against Ivory Coast by delivering three attack helicopters to the disputed president of the west African nation.
A spokesman for U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said the helicopters and other related materiel “are reportedly being delivered at Yamoussoukro,” the nation’s capital, for Laurent Gbagbo’s forces.
“The first delivery arrived reportedly on a flight which landed this (Sunday) evening and additional flights are scheduled for” Monday,” the spokesman said in a statement.
Gbagbo, the nation’s incumbent leader, is clinging to the presidency despite an international call for him to step down after an electoral commission declared challenger Alassane Ouattara the winner of a November election.
Deliveries violate an arms embargo that has been in place since 2004, the spokesman said.
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UN chief accuses Belarus of violating Ivory Coast arms embargo