By MARCO CHOWN OVED, Associated Press – Sat Dec 4, 4:39 pm ET
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – The two candidates in Ivory Coast's disputed presidential election took dueling oaths of office Saturday after each claimed victory, as the political crisis spiraled out of control and renewed unrest in this country once split in two by civil war.
Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo defied calls from the United States, France and the United Nations to concede defeat, wrapping himself in the Ivorian flag as he was sworn in for another term. Hours later, opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara announced that he too had taken his own oath.
Saturday's developments leave Ivory Coast with two men who both claim to be president, furthering inflaming the political chaos in the West African nation whose once-prosperous economy was destroyed by the brief 2002-2003 civil war.
U.S. President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy say Ouattara is the rightful winner and that his victory must be acknowledged. The top U.N. official in Ivory Coast is also standing by results released Thursday by the country's election commission that put Ouattara ahead.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed "deep concern over the continuing standoff," his spokesperson said in a statement Saturday.
Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, a former rebel leader who had served in a unity government with Gbagbo since a 2007 peace deal, said Saturday he was backing Ouattara, who is wildly popular in the formerly rebel-held north. Ouattara said his first act as president was to reappoint Soro.
"These last days have been difficult but I can tell you now that Ivory Coast is in good hands," Ouattara said just hours after Gbagbo held his inauguration ceremony at the presidential palace.
At his swearing-in, Gbagbo renewed allegations that his supporters had been intimidated in the north, repeating the rationale used by the country's constitutional council to throw out a half million ballots that were cast in Ouattara strongholds.
"You think that you can cheat, stuff ballot boxes and intimidate voters and that the other side won't see what is going on," Gbagbo said.
Ivory Coast's long-awaited presidential election was meant to restore stability in what was once one of the most affluent countries in Africa. Instead, the election has cast a growing shadow as the country now faces two political rivals who each claim to be leading the country.
Each has his own army, his own support network and his own legal framework for governing. Gbagbo has the support of the regular army, while Ouattara is supported by the New Forces rebels. Gbagbo is supported by the many of the country's most important institutions including the constitutional council and the state media, while Ouattara is backed with foreign endorsements.
Gbagbo says he is the rightful winner of the runoff vote, citing the Ivorian constitution that gives ultimate authority on the issue to the country's constitutional council, which declared him the winner.
However, Ouattara points to the 2007 peace deal, which states that the United Nations must certify the election results. The U.N. maintains the vote was credible, and that Ouattara won the presidential election.
On Saturday, Ouattara supporters took to the streets, burning tires and a table in one neighborhood.
"The risk of violence between supporters of the two parties, as well as repression by Ivorian security forces against real or perceived supporters of Ouattara, is very high," Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
The country was placed on lockdown immediately after the commission announced Ouattara's win on Thursday, with a decree read on state TV saying the nation's air and land borders had been closed.
A nationwide curfew keeps people off the streets every night at 7 p.m. and all foreign media have been pulled from radio and television, leaving Ivorians with only Gbagbo's version of events, repeated incessantly on state television.
The only station reporting Ouattara's victory was U.N. radio, which was briefly pulled from the air Saturday morning, before it began broadcasting again on a different frequency a few hours later.
Gbagbo's five-year mandate expired in 2005 and the country's first election in a decade was delayed multiple times. He claimed first that the country was too volatile and that security could not be assured. He later cited technicalities like the composition of the voter roll.
The election went ahead in October but then headed to a runoff vote last Sunday. The country's election commission announced Thursday that Ouattara had won. However, new results released Friday on national television by a Gbagbo loyalist who heads the constitutional council said that the incumbent president had in fact been re-elected.
A former International Monetary Fund economist, Ouattara became the icon of Ivory Coast's downtrodden immigrant community in a nation that became a magnet in the region because of its prosperity. Ouattara, born in the north, had been prevented from running in previous elections after accusations that he was not Ivorian, and that he was of Burkinabe origin.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101204/ap_on_re_af/af_ivory_coast_election

"People who make peaceful change impossible will make violent change inevitable". It is unfortunate that Gbagbo will not be the only one to be consumed in the conflagration that will likely follow suit. It is inevitable. 
African leaders are selfish idiots! What else does Gbagbo wants? He has been in power for a decade and for a reasonable human being, ten years should be sufficient a time to leave an everlasting imprint on the socio-economic lives of Ivorians. That is a dangerous assumption and it is a known fact that political leaders in Africa are not in tune with reality. They hardly reckon with the fact that power is transient and ephemeral; a fleeting phenomenon. They can't tune with the fact that they have to give up the power because of the ills they have wrought on the people when they held the reins of power.
But whether Gbagbo likes it or not, the die is cast. The battle line has been drawn in the sand. There can't be two captains in a ship. The country will now be plunged into a political crisis which nobody can predict the end result; because of the selfishness and greed of one man. This country has metamorphosed from one crisis to another and this new crisis is one that they can do without. But will the selfish Gbagbo listen to wise counsel from world leaders? No. He is heading for the land of no return unless he renounces his oath which he is less likely to do.

It shows how greedy African leaders are in terms of holding onto power. Expect someone similar in 2011 in Nigeria courtesy pdp& desperate northerners

Sit-tight leadership , the bane of African politics , rears it ugly head again.

Gbawe:

Sit-tight leadership , the bane of African politics , rears it ugly head again.

so if france want a change in any french speaking african country,then it must come to pass,you africans are lost forever.France is stealing from all the french speaking africa countries ,africans need to to take charge and not submit to external powers

olas2u:

so if france want a change in any french speaking african country,then it must come to pass,you africans are lost forever.[/b]France is stealing from all the french speaking africa countries ,africans need to to take charge and not submit to external powers

Don't be blindsided by the comments of France or the notion that the West is always up to no good in Africa. Ouattara is very popular and Gbagbo has shown in the past that he is afraid of testing his popularity against him by ensuring that Ouattara was prevented from participating in previous elections. In many African nations it is nigh impossible to see an opposition leader announced the winner of a Presidential election . Ouattara is in the opposition Party yet the nations electoral Commision , [b]the highest undisputed electoral authority, actually announced him the winner before loyalists of Gbagbo tried to overule that announcement !!! From all I have read it seems Ouattara won clearly so let us address how he is being denied his mandate by "sit tight" mentality rather than take this on another tangent involving the scheming machinations of the West.

Gbawe:

Don't be blindsided by the comments of France or the notion that the West is always up to no good in Africa. Ouattara is very popular and Gbagbo has shown in the past that he is afraid of testing his popularity against him by ensuring that Ouattara was prevented from participating in previous elections. In many African nations it is nigh impossible to see an opposition leader announced the winner of a Presidential election . Ouattara is in the opposition Party yet the nations electoral Commision , the highest undisputed electoral authority, actually announced him the winner before loyalists of Gbagbo tried to overule that announcement !!! From all I have read it seems Ouattara won clearly so let us address how he is being denied his mandate by "sit tight" mentality rather than take this on another tangent involving the scheming machinations of the West.

There is something like a virus ingrained in the head of African Leaders, otherwise, why would somebody remain in power just to claim he is protecting his country's sovereignity after stealing all the money and taking it to foreign countries? Taking a look at African map, only few countries have democratic leaders and these countries are showing element of development and freedom expression.

Mr Gbagbo made agreement with United Nation and he should respect that. No nation can survive international isolation. If Mr Gbagbo refuse to recognise UN how is he going to survive and how will the nation survive. Is he going to turn Ivory Coast in to North Korea? Well North Korea always have to support of China, but who is going to support him? Probably Zimbabwe or Sudan?

Tsiya:

There is something like a virus ingrained in the head of African Leaders, otherwise, why would somebody remain in power just to claim he is protecting his country's sovereignity after stealing all the money and taking it to foreign countries? Taking a look at African map, only few countries have democratic leaders and these countries are showing element of development and freedom expression.

Indeed. Gbagbo is just spouting distractive rhetoric .We should all eschew intellectual laziness that prevents us from keeping our eyes on events outside our Country that , in the grand scheme, may have an impact on Nigeria directly or indirectly. I want a strong ECOWAS community with leaders who have genuinely gained their electoral mandates from West Africans. It is good to note that ECOWAS has frowned on Gbagbo's conduct. ECOWAS has also demanded that the original announcement of Ouattara as winner , by the electoral commission, be respected.

http://www.african-bulletin.com/watch/735-ivory-coast-ecowas-condemns-gbagbo.html

Ivory Coast: ECOWAS Condemns Gbagbo

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), composed by 15 countries, including Côte d'Ivoire has condemned the nomination of Laurent Gbagbo as Ivorian President and announced a special meeting of regional leaders on the situation. The summit will be held Tuesday in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, to decide what action to take. ECOWAS wishes to express its deep disappointment over the anomalies that have marked the power transition in that Member State, particularly the announcement of the winner and its proclamation as new President. "ECOWAS condemns any attempt to usurp the popular will of the people of Ivory Coast and is calling on all leaders to accept the results declared by the Independent Electoral Commission. Gbagbo was proclaimed winner of the presidential election with 51.45% of the vote by a Constitutional Council adhering to his cause, which had invalidated the results of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) giving his rival, Alassane Ouattara, winner, leading the votes with 54.1%. The latter is relying on a very broad international support, will not disarm and has been also sworn in on last Saturday. A letter has been sent to the President of the Constitutional Council.
The Ivory Coast has lived a scene of a crazy week, and the country is politically split between two new sworn in presidents and might plunge in a definite geographic split between the North and the South.

Is Africa cursed? How could Gbagbo think he would b d end beneficiary in d chaos he is leading his country into? D whole plot beats my imaginations, maybe somebody need to explain any inherent gain in d accursed vile move. Does he think such robbery will end up in a power sharing arrangement? Does he think he's in Zimbabwe where all d weapons d opposition have r stones and sticks? Has he forgotten how formidable militarily his opposition is? What good does he hope he will achieve for his country by leading her on path of anarchy and making her an outcast nation?

Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable. He dt hath ear, let him heed.

The fire that Gbagbo ignited this time will surely consume him along with his cohorts!