410 killed in post- election violence in Cote d'Ivoire
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At least 410 people have been killed in Cote d'Ivoire's post-election violence, including 18 slain in the past week, the UN peacekeeping mission in the West African country (ONUCI) said on Thursday.
ONUCI spokesman Hamadoun Toure confirmed the toll after the mission on an earlier occasion appealed for restraint from the warring sides of the political crisis.
The mission affirmed that it was still available to make its contribution in the efforts to restore peace and end the suffering of people in Cote d'Ivoire.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),more than 77,000 Cote d'Ivoire nationals have been registered as refugees in neighboring Liberia and a total of 500, 000 people have fled the country.
Since the Nov. 28 presidential election, Cote d'Ivoire has been embroiled in a political crisis in which both Alassane Ouattara and the country's outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo claim the presidency.
Ouattara was declared the winner by the electoral commission, but a day later, the Constitutional Council invalidated the results and announced that Gbagbo had won.
Despite numerous mediation efforts, Gbagbo has refused to cede power to Ouattara who is internationally recognized as Cote d'Ivoire's president-elect.
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