By Tim Cocks
ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the latest African Union mediation effort over Ivory Coast's disputed election had failed Wednesday, and stepped up warnings of more sanctions and possible use of force.
Alassane Ouattara has been widely recognized as the winner of the November 28 election but incumbent Laurent Gbagbo has refused to resign, alleging the vote was rigged. He maintains control of the army, much of the cocoa sector and state bodies.
"Despite extensive discussions ... with Mr Laurent Gbagbo and President-elect Alassane Ouattara, that went very late into the night, I regret to announce that the breakthrough that was needed, did not materialise," Odinga told reporters at the airport as he was about to leave.
"Time is running out," he added of efforts to peacefully resolve the stand-off that many fear could pitch the world's top cocoa grower back into a civil war.
"Unless they heed the call and agree to create a conducive environment for peaceful dialogue, the friends of Ivory Coast might be forced to take other measures...which would require additional punishing economic and financial sanctions, and possibly the use of force."
It was the strongest statement by a visiting mediator to Ivory Coast in its decade-long crisis. Odinga explicitly blamed Gbagbo for the breakdown in negotiations, saying he had refused to lift a military siege on the hotel where Ouattara's parallel administration remains trapped under U.N. guard.
"Mr Gbagbo gave me an assurance that this blockade would be lifted yesterday, but he broke that promise -- for the second time in two weeks," he said, explaining why he cut his trip short.
Officials from Gbagbo's camp were not immediately available for comment.
He also said he had urged Ouattara during the talks to name Gbagbo allies in any cabinet he would form as president and to give Gbagbo "iron-clad assurances" about his future security.
(Reporting by Tim Cocks; writing by Mark John and Tim Cocks; editing by Ralph Boulton)
