ECOWAS reprimands Gbagbo

Accra, Dec. 8, GNA - The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has asked President Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d'Ivoire, to accept the will of the electorate and hand over political power to his main challenger in the just ended presidential election, Mr. Alassane Ouatara. The ECOWAS has also affirmed that Mr. Ouatara was duly elected and thus held the constitutional right to be recognized as such.

Accra, Dec. 8, GNA - The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has asked President Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d'Ivoire, to accept the will of the electorate and hand over political power to his main challenger in the just ended presidential election, Mr. Alassane Ouatara. The ECOWAS has also affirmed that Mr. Ouatara was duly elected and thus held the constitutional right to be recognized as such. Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, made this known to journalists at the Kotoka International airport on Tuesday, upon the return of President John Evans Atta Mills from Abuja-Nigeria, where he attended a day's emergency summit together with other ECOWAS leaders, on the current political situation in Cote d'ivoire. Alhaji Mumuni who accompanied President Mills to the summit, said ECOWAS reaffirmed its commitment to democracy and the rule of law and condemned "the attempt to subvert the will of the people of Cote d'Ivoire." Following a highly disputed Presidential election in Cote d'Ivoire, Mr Gbagbo was sworn-in for a third term in office at the Presidential Palace last Friday, with Mr Ouatara also sworn-in as President shortly afterwards in an Abidjan Hotel, throwing the country into political chaos. At the airport to meet President Mills was Vice President John Dramani Mahama, Ministers of State, and senior military and police personnel.