In a statement read on state television, Ahoua Don Mello, a spokesman for sitting president Laurent Gbagbo, accused journalists of fabricating last week’s shelling of civilians in an Abidjan neighborhood. The United Nations said the attack could constitute a crime against humanity.
Gbagbo also accused the media of refusing to report atrocities committed by forces loyal to his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, in the country’s West.
He warned the press that if they didn’t do a better job of reporting, they would be dealt with like the UN peacekeepers, who have been repeatedly attacked by pro-Gbagbo mobs.