African Union suspends Ivory Coast over disputed elections

Thu, 09 Dec 2010

Nairobi/Abidjan/Addis Ababa - The African Union (AU) Thursday suspended Ivory Coast's membership in the 53-nation body over President Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to recognize his opponent as the winner in last month's presidential elections.

Opposition leader Alassane Outtara was named as the winner by Ivory Coast's election body, an outcome accepted by most other countries and international bodies. However, Gbagbo's supporters invalidated those results and claimed victory for themselves last week.

An AU spokesman said Thursday in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa that the suspension would remain in effect until Outtara was recognized as the uncontested president of Ivory Coast.

Gbagbo's foreign minister, Alcide Djedje, Thursday floated a power sharing deal as a possible way out of the stand-off, telling Ghanian broadcaster Citi News that the president and his supporters are open to all discussions.

But Djedje also rejected what he called attempts by the AU, United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States to dictate who the next Ivory Coast president would be.

Gbagbo was handed victory Friday when the constitutional council, headed by a close ally, overturned electoral commission figures proclaiming Ouattara the winner by annulling the results in seven opposition strongholds in the former-rebel north.