Former South African leader Thabo Mbeki is attempting to mediate in a dispute over Ivory Coast's presidential election that threatens to spell new unrest in the divided West African nation.
The November 28 vote was aimed at reuniting a country split after a 2002-03 civil war but only raised tensions as both incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and challenger Alassane Ouattara claimed victory and took presidential oaths.
The United Nations, Ivory Coast's neighbors and others have all urged Mr Gbagbo to concede after provisional results showed him losing. No clear idea of a possible compromise has emerged so far and Mr Mbeki said little publicly after talks with Mr Gbagbo.
"We want to hear all points of view on this matter before we can make any recommendations," he told journalists. He was scheduled later in the day to meet Mr Ouattara at the UN-guarded Abidjan hotel which Mr Ouattara is using as his headquarters.
In the northern town of Bouake, the stronghold of rebels opposed to Mr Gbagbo, tens of thousands of Ouattara supporters demonstrated outside the local headquarters of the UN peacekeeping mission demanding that Mr Gbagbo step down.
"ADO President!" chanted his supporters. Mr Ouattara is widely known by his initials. The mood at the rally was generally calm.
"A situation like Rwanda or Kenya would be a nightmare, which we are working tirelessly to avoid," South Africa's envoy to Ivory Coast, Zodwa Lallie, said, noting similarities with Kenya's election in 2007 when a disputed result degenerated into ethnic bloodshed that killed at least 1,300 people.
Mr Mbeki mediated in Ivory Coast's post-war crisis and several peace deals were signed but the process eventually stalled.
Mr Gbagbo had then opened talks with Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, whose mediation led to a 2007 deal on a power-sharing government.
Mr Gbagbo was sworn in as president of the world's top cocoa grower yesterday even though the electoral commission declared Ouattara winner according to provisional results. Mr Ouattara has submitted a rival oath and vowed to form a parallel government.
Reuters