3 December 2010 Last updated at 20:48Ivory Coast poll overturned: Gbagbo declared winner
There has been an angry reaction to the Constitutional Council decision from some in Abidjan
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Ivory Coast's Constitutional Council has overturned earlier poll results and declared President Laurent Gbagbo the winner of Sunday's run-off.
On Thursday the electoral commission head said opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara had defeated Mr Gbagbo.
But the UN mission in Ivory Coast has said even if complaints of fraud are upheld, Mr Ouattara should still win.
The presidential poll was intended to reunify the world's largest cocoa producer after a civil war in 2002.
The two candidates represent the two sides of the north-south divide that exists religiously, culturally and administratively, with the northern half still controlled in part by the former rebels.
After the move by the Constitutional Council, Mr Ouattara declared himself the new head of state.
He has been backed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and the Security Council is later expected to issue a similar statement.
Burning tyresPaul Yao N'Dre, chairman of the Constitutional Council, which validates election results, said Mr Gbagbo had won a little more than 51% of the vote.
Continue reading the main storyPoll Results
- Constitutional Council: Laurent Gbagbo 51%, Alassane Ouattara 49%
- Electoral Commission: Laurent Gbagbo 46%, Alassane Ouattara 54%
He said results in seven regions in the north, where Mr Ouattara draws most of his support, had been annulled.
"The irregularities are of such a nature that they invalidate the vote," AFP news agency quotes Mr N'Dre, an ally of President Gbagbo, as saying on national television.
The head of the electoral commission had said Mr Gbagbo won 46% of ballots cast.
The UN peace mission said it had received reports of violence in parts of the west and north on election day, but that overall the voting seemed to be peaceful and any irregularities did not overturn Mr Ouattara's lead.
The BBC's John James in Abidjan, the country's main city, says the Constitutional Council's decision has come as a shock to many, especially the opposition.
Continue reading the main storyIvory Coast
- World's largest cocoa producer
- Once hailed as a model of stability, slipped into strife several years after death of first President Felix Houphouet-Boigny in 1993
- An armed rebellion in 2002 split the country between rebel north and government south
- Power-sharing government took over in 2007 with the ex-rebel leader as prime minister
- 2010: First presidential elections in 10 years -culmination of the peace process
Youths from the opposing camps took to the streets in various districts in Abidjan as well as towns in the interior, throwing stones and burning tyres.
On Thursday evening, the military closed the country's borders and international news sources were suspended. An overnight curfew is in place.
The African Union said it was "deeply concerned" by the developments.
There have been dramatic scenes since Sunday over the declaration of the results.
On Tuesday, Mr Gbagbo's representative in the electoral commission tore up the first batch of results as the commission's spokesman was about to announce them.
The electoral commission head, Youssouf Bakayok, then went ahead with an announcement on Thursday, speaking under armed guard at a hotel rather than from the commission's headquarters, declaring Mr Ouattara the winner.
Not long afterwards, Mr N'Dre said that, as the announcement had come after Wednesday's legal deadline, those results were "null and void".
Both the army and UN peacekeepers have been patrolling the streets of Abidjan since Sunday.
At least four people have been killed in election-related clashes in Abidjan this week.
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Friday 3 December 2010
BBC News - Ivory Coast poll overturned: Gbagbo declared winner
via bbc.co.uk
