Long trip

Much better place to stay this time.

Just arrived in Haiti from Yeosu, Korea via New York. But the trip went well and I got to sleep a night in New York. Weather in Korea was windy with temperatures just above zero. It actually snowed for the first time this year in the captial, Seoul. New York's weather was beautiful. Would have loved to go to the city, but just had a few hours to sleep and back to the airport. This is the best time of year to visit Haiti. It is 30 degrees C with a light wind and white puffy clouds. We are here to do a story with the Red Cross. I will have more on that later.

Two years after the horrible earthquake. I haven't seen much yet, but the airport is looking much better. The parking lot where we slept two years ago, is full of cars. The tarmac is empty compared to two years ago when it was filled with aid boxes, big C-130 planes, soldiers and aid workers, not to mention journalists. The accomodations are better this time, staying at the Red Cross base camp on the other side of the road from the airport.

I wonder who my neighbors are?

I have been here to cover elections and filming in the city was dangerous because of a high crime rate. During the earthquake, though, I felt we could go anywhere, even places off limits before. People were more concerned with finding food and water than with a foreigner with a camera. I asked the driver how things were now. "It's dangerous again," he chuckled. In some sense, I guess that is progress.

Preparing the Fantastic

The site of "The Living Ocean and Coast" Expo 2012

We came to Yeosu on Korea's southern coast to film the preparations for World Expo 2012. It is still work-in-progress, but this 3 km2 site will be full of imagination and discovery. From Beluga whales to high tech laser, water and pyro shows to the largest pipe organ in the world, Expo 2012 will probably surprise even the most blasé.

2012 marks the end of the commitment period of the Kyoto Protocal and the 10th anniversary of the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development. The theme of the ocean and coast, man living with the ocean underlines the importance of respecting nature. The ocean is 71% of the earth's surface and 40% of the world's population lives on the coast or within 60km of the shore.

Nam Jae Heon and his Big O under construction.

The Big O with be a central attraction. It is an engineering feat combining the latest in pyro, laser and water technologies. A Californian company is putting in the entertainment side of the O and says there will be nothing like this anywhere else in the world. Mr. Nam, head of the Big O project says it is a delicate project. "The Big O is floating and we have to take into consideration a tide change of 11 metres and we have to think of the effects of bad weather," explains Mr. Nam.

So far 106 countries will be participating. We went to see the USA pavillion which will be huge. Philippe Cousteau will be the official US representative to the Expo. General World Expos happen every five years. In between, there are World Expos based on themes. Expo 2012 will be in Yeosu, Korea from May 12th to August 12, 2012.

Sunset over the hills and islands in Yeosu, Korea

Yeosu is a city of almost 300,000 people in the south of Korea. Fishing is maybe a traditional occupation, but the city is now a major port and the site of an amazingly huge area of large factories that light up at night with the same colour lamps making it look like a stary night on earth.

The city is gearing up for some 8 million visitors, mostly from Asia. I have often been to Korea and can only say it is a great place, so you can visit the Expo 2012 and take time to see the rest of this fantastic country. You can see our report on www.euronews.net/focus during the week of 19 December.

Ninja miners

Heading out under bright blue skies.

Jargal, our fixer, read my last entry and told me she said Mongolians were now into mining, not money. It seems like the first is the way to the later, so maybe the sense is the same. But she told me there are many people who go out to areas left by the big mining companies and try to dig up the rests of any gold the big machines of the mining companies might have left behind. Because they go out with sacks hung over their back and thus look like Ninja turtles, they are called Ninja miners.

Offered vodka, but I perfered buttermilk tea.

Today we visited a family of hearders. They seemed pretty well off with solar panels and satellite dishes on their yourts. Galbadrakh Dambiinyam's  yourt was decorated with many medals for horse racing. He said he couldn't imagine a different life. "If things get bad here, I can go to the west of the country," Galbadrakh said confidently.

Mongolia, 20 years later

A clear cold day in Ulaan Bataar.

Winter came suddenly this year by travelling from mild weather Europe to Ulaan Bataar, the capital of Mongolia. Today, the temperature was -20 C. This is my second visit to this amazing country, but I was here over 20 years ago and at least the capital has changed completely. One interesting change is that in 1992, everyone spoke Russian here. Everything was written in Russian. Today, signs are in Mongolian, albeit in Cyrillic letters and not the traditional Mongolian letters. English is the language of choice of the youth.

Ghengis Khan and his soldier look out over the Capital.

We have come to Mongolia to do a story on the heavy migration of people to the cities. Many are herders seeking a better life after bad times in the steppes. Some are simply people hoping to get a better education for their children.

This is our first day and after a two-day trip to get here through Seoul, Korea, we are just getting our bearings. We have learned that one of the biggest threats to this city is an earthquake. At these temperatures, not so many people would die in the earthquake as in trying to survive without heating if the big heating complexes are destroyed.

Mostly only people over 40 still speak Russian. I was able
to speak with these ladies, working 7 hours a day in the
freezing cold shoveling snow.

We met our fixer today. A fixer is a local journalist who can help us get oriented and has a thick address book of local interviewees on all different subjects. Jargal says Mongolians are extremists. "A long time ago, we were into fighting, so we took over the world," says Jargal, her arms spread wide to accentuate the exploits. "Then we got into religion, Buddhism. 90% of the men became monks and the population took a dive. Then came communism and we became Russian. Now, we are independant again and everything Russian is gone." Jargal is young, but unlike many, she speaks fluent Russian as well as the more popular English. Forward thinking, she is now learning Chineese. She ends her quick description of the Mongol mentality with a bit of regret... "Now we are into money."

Shady motels, a drowned soldier and ice-cream.

Cords dangle to somewhat hide the guest's car.

When I usually go to Seoul, we stay in nice, even very nice hotels. This time it seems those places were booked. So we stayed in a motel. In the US, a motel just means you can park your car in front of the room. In Korea, it is a room for couples to rent for some privacy. With jetlag and a busy schedule in front of me, I thought how was I going to get any rest in a place like this. But, other than some voices now and again, I didn't hear any odd noises and the room was very comfortable and clean. The minibar was free and there was free popcorn and coffee downstairs. Koreans seem to be very neat and tidy in everything they do, even in the shadier side of life.

My bright golden bathrroom at the motel.

We came to do a story about improving economic activity near the DMZ on the North Korean border and even creating tourism WITHIN the DMZ to see an ecosystem untouched for over 60 years. Within the DMZ, we filmed tanks, barbed wire and lookout posts. It is hard to imagine many tourists wanting to come to see rare birds while a million soldiers point big guns at each other. The DMZ is an odd place anyway. Looking north you can see fake villages in the haze and imagine the horrible hardships of the north Koreans. Looking south, people are organising peace walks and DMZ marathons. The very subject of the two Koreas and unification is not much talked about, almost taboo. South Korea has come a long way and is a very modern and friendly place. The Koreans have worked hard to get there and many don't like to think about having to support all of North Korea in the event of a unification. But, on the other hand, they don't like to be thought of only as a divided state constantly on the verge of war. One interesting fact; a soldier told me that they find a dead north Korean soldier washed up on the south side of the river about once a month. He gueses they try to escape but drown in the process. He said the last body they found was just two weeks ago.

To end on a positive note, at my nice motel, they also had free ice-cream! But the flavours were a bit odd. This is corn ice-cream! Now, can that be considered a vegetable?

My vote for most friendly city: San Francisco

City Hall

Maybe it was the particularly great weather during my visit or some end of the summer good feeling in the city, but I tend to think that basically people here are just a friendly bunch.


I asked the girl next to me in the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) if this was the 12th Street station. She said no, it was the next one. Since she seemed to know the system well. I asked if she knew how long it would take me from here to the airport. Saying she wasn't sure, she pulled out her smart phone. I thought she was just going to make a call and that was the end of the conversation. A minute afterwards she turned and said she was sorry, but the internet was very slow and she couldn't get the information I needed so quickly! Also on the metro, two people bumped into each other upon entering. Each turned to say sorry. I know some cities where that would have at least been pretext for some hateful stares.

Classic picture: Alamo Square

Taxi drivers are from all over the world. From the Ukraine to Ethiopia, each has their story. Sethi comes from India and his wife used to be a journalist and still does the odd article for the Indian press. He was listening to a radio in Hindi and said there was even a television in Hindi in SF. Everyone must feel at home here.


My reason for being her is to film the opera of the book "The heart of a Soldier", a true story about a soldier who later in life became a security agent at the World Trade Center in New York and saved many people on September 11th 2001 and gave his own life. 

A good husband is one who has a bike.

South Kivu is the site of horrible massacres, mass rapes and marauding armed groups. Every few kilometres a memorial marks the site of a mass grave of victims. Here in the territory of Fizi, in the month of June and only in one village, 120 women were raped. Rape is a weapon of war here. In all of the Congo, I am told there are 45 rapes every hour. But people are returning despite all the violence. Returning to destroyed homes and fields, they are trying to put their lives back together. The area is spectacularly beautiful, but also holds many mineral resources, the reason so many different groups are fighting.

Two very eligible bachelors?

There aren't many roads, no railway to speak of and many goods are transported on the backs of women. So if you are a man with a bicycle, you are very popular. They use bicycles to transport everything. Most bicycles are imported from China or India. Anyone want to open up a factory here to build local bikes? Could be a profitable market and you could create many a happy home!


An interesting story to follow-up on: In this traditionally christian country, I notice a few mosques. Talking to a group of children, one tells me his name is Aboubakar, a name I would expect in Mali, but not here in the Congo. I asked an aid worker here about the presence of islam. He tells me it is ever since the UN soldiers arrived. Most soldiers are from Pakistan. "They have their official mission and a secret mission," he tells me. "They give 100 dollars to someone who agrees to convert to islam." 

African leaders meet in an exclusive area on an island in the Atlantic

Not many people have been to Equatorial Guinea, but most of the African leaders now have. Shuffled from their private planes along a private 6-lane highway, lined with their portraits, the leaders entered the area known as Sipopo. Each has his own villa overlooking the sea. I don't doubt the sincerity of many of the leaders, but this area seems to be at the heart of the problems that these leaders are gathered here to talk about: poverty and the income gap, education and opportunities for youth.

Just behind my hotel is, sadly, what one normally sees of Africa, dirt roads, shacks and people struggling to get by. And Equatorial Guinea is a rich country with gas and oil. The place is fairly clean and there is, I'm told, very little crime. There is a lot of construction going on. Like many countries in Africa, it has a lot going for it. They say this is the continent of the future.


That is, of course, if they, the leaders, can get things moving. Organising a good summit might be a place to start. I don't like to complain, but I can't say I've seen a summit meeting so badly organised. Only one person was in charge of people arriving at the airport. I had to wait 4 hours out on the sidewalk while others waited for their visas. Finding a hotel took hours. The first day, I was questioned and reprimanded, although politely, not to film because I didn't have the right papers yet (this is probably because the regime here is authoritarian and they are not used to cameras). Accreditation takes hours as well and, so far I have had 3 different accreditation cards. At one accreditation booth, the guy even asked me for money.

Pool at the 5-star hotel, said to be the President's.

But, in the end, things seem to work out and most people here are of a good nature and any conversation ends in a good smile. I'm not sure if that is good enough to discourage leaders from building their own private highways to the beach and to invest in their people's future. 

The National Centre for Performing Arts or The Egg.

China may soon be the next superpower with its economic weight and as a tourist in China, you might feel that people are free, being able to own things and work as they want. But I tend to judge a country's level of freedom by the way they treat the press. China is still afraid of journalists. We came to do a simple cultural programme, featuring a famous piano player Youndi Yi. But we weren't able to bring in our own equipment because the Chinese put a high temporary import tax on cameras. So we had to rent gear in China. You also have to work with a local production company or have someone from the government accompany you everywhere you go. So, not exactly a press-friendly place.

Despite the lack of freedom, China is a wonderful place. Beijing is a big modern city with clean streets and dazzling lights. The people are friendly and the whole thing makes you want to go out and learn Chinese!


Maybe one fact leading to China's economic success was its one-child rule to reduce its population. Established in 1979 by Deng Xiaoping, the law was meant to be temporary, but is still in place a quarter of a century later. The law has maybe had its economic effect but does have secondary social effects. The Chinese prefer to have a boy and there have been many cases of ending a pregnancy if it is a girl. Now there are many young men left without hope of finding a bride and many young women enjoying a good education, social mobility and a large choice of future mates.

Everyone gets along in Azerbaijan

I'm here to film a report for Euronews on the Intercultural Dialogue Forum. Azerbaijan is really at the crossroads of many cultures. To illustrate the story, we filmed four different religious ceremonies, Jewish, Russian Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim. Having been to four different religious prayers in one day, I should have all bases covered for the afterlife.


It would be nice if religions were always that open. As one delegate said, the problem isn't religion... it is those who try to use religion for their own political purposes. The church, synagogue and mosque invited us in and were very hospitable. At the synagogue, mosque and orthodox church I was allowed to film anywhere and I did try to get a lot of different angles. Only the catholic church said I could only film from the back of the church.


The last time I was in Baku, I was in the Soviet Union. Today, this vibrant city of four and a half million is unrecognisable from that not so distant past. With new oil wealth, the city is being completely revamped. New construction seems to follow a building code to respect the architectural heritage of the city. The old soviet style buildings are all being torn down. Parks and façades are beautifully lit at night as the cool evening air off the Caspian sea rolls in.

The talk at the forum is of cultural diversity, acceptance of each other and tolerance. Azerbaijan was one of the first nations to give women the vote. But the crossroads of culture is sadly also a battlefield of politics. The explosive Caucus region is to the north, with Tchetchnya and Ossetia. Iran is to the south. Azerbaijan is still at war, albeit a cease-fire, with Armenia. Tolerance and acceptance have a lot to do with being able to eat well, work and discuss freely. 
You can see the report here:
http://www.euronews.net/2011/04/08/azerbaijan-a-forum-for-intercultural-dialogue/

A Gaddafi in a ski suit and refugees with no where to go.

After a week of filming refugees, I feel a mental tiredness from seeing and hearing the same horrible stories over and over. It's not that I have reached a point of not caring, not at all. As a journalist, we have to keep a certain distance from the story or we couldn't do our job. But we are humans too and you can't help feeling very sad for these poor people who have lost everything, yet smile. So we smile and don't let things get to you... and that is mentally fatiguing.

Where are is the ski lift?

Yesterday. Gaddafi's son, Hanibal Gaddafi arrived at the border here. Sadly we missed him by 10 minutes. There was no camera present, but a Swiss photographer, Guillaume Briquet, took pictures and gave us some, which we sent to Euronews. He didn't say anything to the press, but looked like he just got back from a ski trip in Switzerland, dressed in a white ski suit and dark glasses.

This morning, it's back to the Choucha camp. The report is that the Tunisian's are handling things fine. The international organisations present are just crisis planning if things really get bad in Libya and another wave of refugees arrives. 

Sanitation is a big problem now in Choucha camp.

Filming in the camp, I met Daniel (his christian name, he tells me). Daniel's situation is maybe worse than other refugees because he was a clandestine worker in Libya from Burkina Faso. "In November, police came to our apartment and took us to prison," relates Daniel. "They said they would let us go if we paid 300 Dinar (around 200 euros). Some paid, but they didn't let us go. We stayed there two months and then they took us to another prison where we stayed one month. Finally they let us go and we arrived here last night."

A Bangladechi refugee takes a shower.

They are eight Burkinabes in the Choucha camp Daniel tells me. The Egyptians and Vietnamese left or are leaving. The Bangladeshis, some 13,000 out of a total of 16,000 refugees in the camp, are hoping to leave soon. The eight Burkinabes, clandestine workers, will probably have to go back the way they came... across the Sahara. "It was a very tough trip here," remembers Daniel. "Many died."

Ras Jedir border with Libya

After spending most of the night filming and editing a story on refugees finally taking a plane home, we headed to the border this morning to see who is left. As we drove to the border, a tide of humans walked along the dusty road toward the Choucha refugee camp. They were all Bengladeshis. These poor people have had to watch while others, Egyptians, Vietnamese and others, take buses to the airport and a plane ride back home. There is no bus for the Bangladeshis, the Ghanians, Malgach and others, whose countries are too poor or can`t be bothered to come and get them. "I`m just following the others," says one young refugee, who looks like he should be in school. "Everyone else is leaving. No one is helping the Bangladeshis."

In the evening we went back to the border to see what was going on. It was mostly empty. A family of Bangladeshi was crossing the border with two little girls dressed with beads in their hair. I wondered what they may have been through as Gaddafi`s troops have sealed the border now and there are some 12,000 people wanting to flee into Tunisia. The Libyan side looked abandonned. Even the green flags were gone. The Tunisian side is strewn with debris, blankets and a few broken suitcases.

A Bangladeshi refugee succombs to exhaustion.

It is a bit frustrating as a journalist here because we all want to get into Libya, but it is at the least very dangerous and probably impossible as Gaddafi tries to hold on to power. I think about those risking their lives to take pictures from their phones as hundreds of professionals are sitting here waiting for a chance to get in. The dream is to be there when the Libyan people finally take power and as their neighbors in Egypt and Tunisia, make their voices heard. But they are up against a madman. Can they do it on their own?

Ras Jedir on the Libyan border

They wait in apparent good humour given all they've been through. Over 70,000 have passed this border crossing and thousands are still waiting. At left is a picture of those still waiting to pass into Tunisia escaping fighting, robbery and agression from Gaddafi's troops. Many have spent days to get here. Most are Egyptian as well as many Bangladeshi and Vietnamese.

As they trickle through, the Tunisian put up an heroic effort to distribute food, water and blankets. It is very cold at night here in the desert. We stay in a hotel without heat and I sleep with blankets and a coat feeling very priviledged when I think of all those still waiting to cross the border. International help is just beginning to arrive as this potential human catastrophy mounts.

Camps are spreading out as thousands carry all their belongings across into a field and set up tents from the United Nations Refugee Agency. The Tunisian army and nacient government are trying their best to organise this human tide. Along the road, we have seen private cars filled with bread and mattresses for the refugees. I think the Tunisians are very proud that the Arab revolution started in their country and they are being very generous to help their neighbors. The Tunisian flag is even carried by some refugees as a sign of freedom.

Beautiful Moscow

Sergei Rozhkov, Galya Voronzova and me.

I haven't been back to Moscow in years. So i prepared myself psychologically for the normal problems at the airport; complicated customs agents, dark dirty airport, long lines and menacing passport control. I arrived in the new improved Moscow! A brand new Sheremetovo airport even smells new. Bright open spaces greet newcomers. My first big surprise was when the lady in uniform checking my passport smiled! Incredible! Now there is even a train which takes you directly from the airport to Bielorusskie train station in the center of Moscow.

I used to live near that train station so I first went on a nostalgic walk to see my old apartment. It was much the same, maybe cleaner, but there were many more cars parked in every available and non available space. Traffic is Moscow is horrible, but the metro is one of the best in the world. Trains run every three minutes.The stations are clean and could almost be an historical museum. In fact, one train IS a museum. At right, you can see the wagons painted and inside hang real artworks. And it is also used for transport. Culture is an integral part of Russian life. They all seem to know the classical painters and composers and now they even take their culture with them on the metro!

Things have changed so much here in 15 years that parts of Moscow are hard to even recognize. Life is still hard here for most, but has greatly improved for many. On Manezhny Ploshad, where I once filmed huge demonstrations, there is a huge underground mall with gardens and fountains topping it off. At left, a coffee house four floors underground where you can have a cappucino on a terrace in front of a roman fountain as the snow blows overhead in the beautiful minus 20 degree Russian winter.

Sick kids and renovated castles in Romania

Imola and Viorika are two little girls who have tuberculosis. Their hair is cut short to avoid lice. Tuberculosis affects many countries in Europe, but especially Romania. In this small center for TB in the Transylvanian Alps, 18 children are being treated. Most of them are gypsies. I am still confused about gypsies. There are many who have integrated into the societies where they live, but others seem to live precariously in temporary, dirty shelters with very little family structure. Tuberculosis of course loves such conditions and these poor kids suffer. Many times all the children (we were concentrating on children, but adults are also badly affected) in a family are sick. The staff at the center really dedicate themselves to the children, trying to find the resources to take care of them.

Kids are great and can get through many hardships without even complaining. They sing and smile and take hundreds of pills over a six month period to kill the disease. Kristina, at right, is 13. All her siblings are sick and her older sister died last year from TB. I gave her my little camera to take some pictures and she is a natural photographer. She took the picture above and framed it very well. I asked her and Imola and Viorika what they wanted to be when they grew up. I think the arrival of a TV camera crew influenced their decision... they all want to be photographers!

Romania is a beautiful country. We didn't have much time to see it on this trip, but on the way back to Bucharest, we briefly saw Peles Castle. Built by King Carol I of Romania, the castle combines many different European styles. Some call it the most beautiful castle in Europe... maybe because everyone can see a style from their own country as French, German, Czech, Turkish, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian workers, architects and craftsmen all joined forces in its construction. Ceausescu, the communist dictator, of course didn't like it very much and the castle degraded durning the communist period. It has since been renovated and is open to tourists from all over.

Winter Wonderland in Astana, Kazakhstan

Just a little video I put together of shots we didn't use in the Euronews report on the Asian Winter Games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVsdltqrZQo

Paying for Power

A gender quota requires 1 out of  5 participants are women.

Davos is all about networking. But this is high speed, broadband networking. Tucked away (probably because security is much easier here... anyone not connected with the Forum is easily noticed) in this small Swiss mountain resort, the movers and shakers sort each other out. So, if you had had the idea of such a conference, what would you charge the richest people in the world?

Now, I'm digging my information from the Herald Tribune. You have to be a member of the club to get invited to the Forum. Yearly membership for a single person is around 52.000 US$. Then you have to pay the entrance fee of 18.000 Swiss francs... a total of about 71.000 US$. That's your ticket to come and listen to the powerful of this world. But as one participant told me, "At that price, you're a loser." To get into the more exclusive conference rooms, access to influential people and rooms of your own, you can pay upwards to 600.000 US$!

Promoting instead of policing, Canadian Mounties
woo investors.

We, the press, don't pay that and work 15 hours a day for our honest salaries. But, we do get to meet and hobnob with the best of them. Last night, Friday, was a night of parties. Being here, we had to see what that was all about. After a nice Indian cocktail party with delicious and spicy finger food, we had drinks with CEOs the world over. The big event of the evening was the Google party. They had a robot which could solve the Rubrik's cube in 27 seconds, men completely wrapped up in bright orange or green or red sort of tights from head to toe, carrying illuminated, electrical plants. As we walked in (having sort of crashed the party because not invited) we crossed John Kerry, US Senator, as he was leaving. There were many other prominent people inside letting go, dancing to the DJ's music. A great evening, ending, for us at least, around three in the morning.

Back up this morning, albeit not so early, we are doing a last stand-up and packing up. At right is Isabelle Kumar, the other half of our gender quota, telling it like it is in Davos.

Next stop Lyon and then Astana, Kazakhstan on Sunday!

With the powerful in Davos

Every year, the rich and powerful gather in this small alpine village to discuss the world situation. The World Economic Forum's motto is "Committed to improving the state of the world." And if they all could agree, the people here are surely those who have the means to make a difference. This is a place to meet, to exchange and to absorb new ideas. You can do that everywhere, even in the shuttle vans transporting participants in a circle around this small town. This morning I rode in with a man who runs tens of non-profit hospitals in the United States and we had a great conversation about health reform. The driver of the van said he had given the head of Google a ride earlier.

Some of the veterans of this well revered conference even have battle scars. Kumi Naidoo is the International Executive Director of Greenpeace International and comes from South Africa. He isn't used to the cold. He showed us different scars on his legs from previous falls on his six trips to Davos. "This one is from Davos 2005," as he rolls up his trouser leg.

Invest in Canada!

Walking all over the town, mostly up and down steep, snowy streets to get beauty shots, works up an appetite. On the way back to the Press Center, we run across a Canadian stand, enticing the rich and powerful to invest in Canada. Their argument here comes in the form of a sort of crèpe with chocolate sauce and bananas. Hard to resist!

A very complicated situation in the Ivory Coast.

Well, I finally got my bags back, but not until I went to the airport on my next shoot and not until I went back to the baggage belts myself and found them! I came out of the baggage claim and then right back to check-in and checked in for my next destination.

My next destination was an urgent departure for Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Euronews had the chance to get an exclusive interview with the incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo. At left you see me with his councillors, Gbagbo, and with François Chignac, the journalist from Euronews. There are lots of interests involved in this election and that makes things of course very confusing to find out what is behind all the statements for each side. You can see the interview at http://fr.euronews.net/2010/12/31/exclusif-laurent-gbagbo-sexplique-sur-euronews/

Euronews also did an interview with the opposing camp of Alassane Ouatara which you can see on the same site. I know it sounds naive to wish they could all just sit down and talk it out, but both Gbagbo and Ouatara sound like intelligent men who both want the best for their country. Reminds me of the story of King Salomon and the two women who say a baby is theirs. To solve the problem, the king says he will cut the baby in two and give each half. The real mother then gives the baby to the other so as not to harm the baby. Who will make such a gesture in the Ivory Coast?