One killed as Ivorian soldiers, opposition supporters clash

Demonstrators reject Guei's claim of presidential victory

In this story: Activists respond to Gbagbo's call Chief rival barred from election RELATED STORIES, SITES

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- At least one person was killed on Tuesday when angry supporters of an opposition presidential candidate clashed with soldiers backing military ruler Robert Guei, who proclaimed himself winner of Ivory Coast's weekend presidential election.

Supporters of Socialist party candidate Laurent Gbagbo took to the streets, urged to do so by Gbagbo, after the interior ministry announced that Guei had dissolved the electoral commission because of irregularities and claimed victory.

"From this moment, I am the head of state of Ivory Coast," Gbagbo told a news conference. "I ask all patriots of towns and the countryside to take to the streets."

Angry activists at Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) headquarters in the capital city of Abidjan headed off in the direction of the Akouedo barracks, where soldiers launched a December 1999 pay dispute that mushroomed into the coup that brought Guei to power.

"We are ready to die. Guei is not president," one young man said.

"He has chosen to go like (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic. We will drive him (from power) within 24 hours," added another.

The activists built barricades in the streets and set fire to them, witnesses said. Security forces blocked the demonstrators with tear gas, percussion grenades and live fire.

One burst of gunfire left a demonstrator dead in the street near Guei's residence.

Chief rival barred from election

Guei, who faced three other challengers in addition to Gbagbo in the election he called to restore civilian rule, previously had pledged not to vie for the presidency. But he reversed himself to stand for the post, and pushed to have his chief rival, former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara, barred from the election.

Ouattara was among the candidates the supreme court ruled ineligible. Ouattara's opponents had argued that one of his parents was not Ivorian, preventing him from holding the presidency, but Ouattara denied that claim.

The high court's barring of Quattara left Gbagbo, a former history professor and founder of the FPI in 1982, the only political heavyweight to challenge Guei. Gbagbo lost a run for the presidency in 1990.

On Monday, Honore Guie, head of the electoral commission, suspended announcement of the vote results, saying he wanted to give his staff a rest. The results were to have been announced by 11 a.m. (1100 GMT) on Tuesday, but Bamba Cheik's announcement came just after 2 p.m. (1400 GMT).

Just before Bamba Cheik's announcement, French Cooperation Minister Charles Josselin told the French National Assembly that Guei had asked the supreme court to annul the election.

Journalist Ken Walker contributed to this report

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September 18, 2000

Organization of African Unity
Amnesty International 2000 country report, Ivory Coast
U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Reports for 1999: Cote d'Ivoire
Library of Congress, Country Study, Ivory Coast

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