Ivory Coast's Gbagbo sworn in amid storm of protest

Sat, 04 Dec 2010

Nairobi/Abidjan - Ivory Coast's President Laurent Ggagbo was sworn in Saturday despite wide international endorsement of his rival Alassane Ouattara as the rightful winner of polls in the West African nation.

In a ceremony broadcast live on state television from the presidential palace, Gbagbo ignored a storm of protest over his victory and pledged to defend the constitution.

A few hours later, Ouattara also conducted a swearing-in ceremony, putting the two leaders on a collision course.

Gbagbo and Ouattara, a former prime minister and senior International Monetary Fund official, contested an election aimed at putting to bed the ghost of the 2002 civil war, which split the mainly Muslim north and largely Christian south.

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.

The regime has closed all borders and blocked the signals of all foreign television and radio news services. An overnight curfew is in place.

United States President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and United Nations head Ban Ki-moon have led international demands for Ouattara to be handed the reins of power.

Obama called for the result to be respected, congratulating Ouattara and noting the UN, the electoral commission and international observers had confirmed the result.

"I urge all parties, including incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, to acknowledge and respect this result, and to allow Cote d'Ivoire to move forward toward a peaceful, democratic future, leaving long years of conflict and missed opportunities in the past," he said.

Ban backed a statement of his special representative to Ivory Coast, YJ Choi, who said the electoral commission results were valid.

However, Gbagbo, speaking at his swearing in, dismissed the outside interference.

"I have never called on someone from outside to put me in office," Gbagbo said in an apparent rebuke to Choi, who said the Ivory Coast government had earlier authorized him to certify the vote.

The government has threatened to expel Choi for his stance.

Choi said if even all the complaints about irregularities by Gbagbo's camp were taken into account, the outcome of vote would still have balanced in Ouattara's favor.

The African Union, France and regional bloc ECOWAS have all expressed disapproval. Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is being rushed to Ivory Coast to facilitate an solution to the election crisis, the AU said.

However, Gbagbo - backed by the army - shows no sign of bowing to internal or external pressures, raising the possibility of conflict should Ouattara choose to activate his supporters.

Ouattara has said he is the rightful president of Ivory Coast, and is backed by the former northern rebel group New Forces, headed by Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, who resigned in protest on Saturday.

"We recognize that Alassane Ouattara is the winner of the this election ... I decided to go give him my resignation from the government and as prime minister," Soro said in a statement carried on his party's website.

Street protests have so far been muted amid tight security, but there is concern if Gbagbo refuses to back down and accept the electoral commission's result, civil war could break out again.

"Any other approach risks plunging Cote d'Ivoire into a crisis with incalculable consequences for the country, as well as for the region and the continent as a whole," the AU said in a statement.

More than a dozen people had already died in clashes linked to the poll before the latest twist.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, Ban and Obama warned the two candidates they would be held to account for any further violence carried out by their supporters, while the International Criminal Court also said it was monitoring events.

Ivory Coast has been in crisis since 2002 when Gbagbo, who came to power in the wake of violent demonstrations at the 2000 presidential elections, survived a coup attempt.

The failed coup sparked a brief civil war, which divided the country into the government-controlled south and rebel-controlled north. A 2007 peace deal brought the rebels into government through Soro.

The presidential poll had been postponed six times since 2005.