TOP AD BANNER GOES HERE

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Ivory Coast army closes borders

The military in Ivory Coast has announced the closure of the country's land, sea and air borders, amid confusion over the result of Sunday's presidential election run-off.
It comes after the Constitutional Court rejected a declaration by the electoral commission that opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara had won.
John James reports from the Ivorian commercial capital, Abidjan.Supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo had tried to block the long-delayed result, alleging fraud in the north.
The UN Security Council asked both sides to show restraint.
"The air, land and sea border of the country are closed to all movement of people and goods," Ivorian military spokesman Babri Gohourou said.
The border would remain closed until further notice, Mr Gohourou added.Shortly after, the military announced "the immediate suspension of all foreign news channels" in the country, including CNN, France24 and Radio France International FM.
heightened tension in the country.
Supporters of President Ggagbo had tried to block the result, saying there had been fraud in the north, the region where Mr Ouattara is most popular.
The north is also controlled by former rebels.
The head of the independent electoral commission (IEC) , Youssouf Bakayoko, said Mr Ouattara had won 54% of the vote, compared to 46% for Mr Gbagbo.He was speaking under armed guard at a hotel, rather than from the commission's headquarters.

0 comments:

Post a Comment