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Mbeki In Ivory Coast to Mediate Presidential Standoff

   VOA News 05 December 2010
   Jordanian  United  Nations soldiers stand guard at the entrance to the
   Golf Hotel in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 05 Dec 2010

Photo: AP

   Jordanian  United  Nations soldiers stand guard at the entrance to the
   Golf  Hotel  in Abidjan, where opposition leader Alasssane Ouattara is
   staying, Ivory Coast, 05 Dec 2010

   Former  South  African President Thabo Mbeki is in Ivory Coast to help
   mediate the country's deepening political crisis.

   Mbeki arrived in Abidjan Sunday, a day after both candidates from last
   week's  presidential  election  announced  they  had taken the oath of
   office.
   President   Laurent   Gbagbo   was   sworn   in  after  Ivory  Coast's
   Constitutional  Council declared him the winner with 51 percent of the
   vote.   However, the country's electoral commission had earlier given
   the victory to opposition leader Alasssane Ouattara.
   France,  the  United  States, the European Union and the African Union
   have  joined the United Nations in recognizing Ouattara as the elected
   president and called on Gbagbo to accept the result.
   Mbeki,  who  was  sent by the African Union, is scheduled to meet with
   both Ouattara and Gbagbo Sunday.
   U.N.  peacekeepers  have  blocked the entrance to Mr. Ouattara's hotel
   with armored personnel carriers.
   The military has set up roadblocks around the main city, Abidjan. Â
   The country is already under a nighttime curfew, and all foreign media
   have been pulled off the airwaves.
   Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, a former rebel leader who has served in
   a  unity government with Gbagbo since a 2007 peace deal, said Saturday
   he is backing Ouattara.
   Residents  in Abidjan reported hearing gunfire in several parts of the
   city  overnight.  During the day Saturday, supporters of Mr. Ouattara
   took  to  the  streets  for a second day, burning tires and putting up
   barricades.   Election  violence  has already left at least 14 people
   dead.
   Ivory  Coast's presidential election was meant to restore stability to
   the  country,  eight  years  after  a civil war left the country split
   between rebel and government-controlled areas.
   The  U.S.  State Department has issued a warning against travel to the
   Ivory Coast because of a possibility of violence.
   The  International Monetary Fund said it would work with Ivory Coast's
   government only if it is backed by the United Nations.

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