Two Claims on Ivory Coast Presidency

Ivory Coast is not big enough for the both of them. After a presidential runoff in the West African nation, former rebel leader Alassane Ouattara was declared the victor by the electoral commission with 54 percent of the vote—but incumbent Laurent Gbagbo rejected the results and swore himself in for another term. The U.S., France, and the U.N. have declared Ouattara the winner and called on Gbagbo to accept the results. In turn, Gbagbo, who has the support of the armed forces, has closed off Ivory Coast’s borders, cut broadcasts of international news into the country, instituted a curfew, and threatened to expel the head of the 8,000-soldier strong U.N. mission. Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, was torn apart in by a civil war in 2002. Ouattara hails from the country’s predominantly Muslim north.