Switzerland says it has frozen all the assets held there by Ivory Coast's disputed leader Laurent Gbagbo.

瑞士政府宣布冻结象牙海岸争议领导人洛朗·巴博在瑞士的所有资产。

Mr Gbagbo is refusing to hand over power to Alassane Ouattara, widely seen as the winner of November's elections.

The move comes as the UN Security Council approved an additional 2,000 peacekeepers for Ivory Coast to bolster¹（支持） the 9,800-strong UN contingent²（分遣队） .

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has told the BBC his latest mediation³（调解，仲裁） efforts to end the crisis have failed.

UN peacekeepers are protecting Mr Ouattara in his temporary headquarters at a hotel in the main city of Abidjan.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the UN troops were facing "an openly hostile security environment" in the West African country, with threats coming from forces loyal to Mr Gbagbo.

"Unfortunately President Gbagbo has once again refused to lift the blockade（封锁） around the Golf Hotel in Abidjan where Mr Ouattara was staying - that made it impossible for negotiations⁴ to take place," Mr Odinga told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

"We have issued a statement in which we have told Mr Gbagbo that time is running out for peaceful negotiations," he said.

Meanwhile, West African military leaders have been meeting in Mali to discuss a possible military intervention⁵.

The West African regional grouping Ecowas has threatened to force Mr Gbagbo out.

'Quick move'

Speaking in Bern on Wednesday, Swiss foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said the government "decided⁶ to block any possible funds of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo with immediate⁷ effect".

Ms Calmy-Rey, who is also currently serving as Switzerland's president, said the EU had already blocked Mr Gbagbo's assets.

She said that it was therefore "important that Switzerland came quickly to a decision" to prevent any funds being transferred to Switzerland - which is not an EU member - as a result of the move by Brussels.

The freeze of Mr Gbagbo's assets would last three years, she added.

Mr Odinga was appointed by the African Union to mediate⁸ in the crisis in the cocoa-rich country.

After separate late-night talks with the rivals in Abidjan, he flew to Accra for a meeting with Ghana's leader John Atta Mills.

He denied suggestions that Ghana had softened⁹ its stance towards Mr Gbagbo and was refusing to contemplate¹⁰（沉思，注视） military action against him.

"President Mills has taken the opportunity to clarify Ghana's position that Ghana does not disagree with Ecowas on the use of legitimate¹¹（合法的，正当的） force," Mr Odinga said.

The Ghanaian leader had explained that Ghana's peacekeeping operations were already overstretched so it would be unable to provide troops for an Ivorian operation, he said.

"But Ghana fully¹² subscribed¹³ to the position of Ecowas," he added.