Ouattara inaugurated as Ivory Coast president

[Davo]

YAMOUSSOUKRO, Ivory Coast – President Alassane Ouattara was inaugurated Saturday as Ivory Coast's president in the stately ceremony he should have enjoyed six months ago, but was prevented from holding by the entrenched ruler who refused to accept his defeat at the polls and nearly dragged the nation into civil war in a bid to stay in power.
   
In an effort to stop Ouattara from assuming office after November's poll, outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo deployed the army to block the roads leading to the hotel which had served as Ouattara's campaign headquarters, imprisoning the president-elect inside.

Ouattara was forced to take the oath of office inside the hotel lobby in a ceremony attended only by his closest aides.
   
By contrast, the lavish ceremony on Saturday was attended by some 20 heads of state in a show of international support for the democratically elected leader. Hundreds of people were killed in the political standoff that consumed the nation, first by the army controlled by Gbagbo and later in reprisal killings by soldiers fighting to install Ouattara.

Ouattara used the occasion to underscore his legitimacy and the return to constitutional order, but also to reach out to the half of the country that had voted for his opponent.
"The serious crisis that struck Ivory Coast the day after the election ... has been resolved democratically, respecting the will of the people," Ouattara said in a speech after being garlanded with a golden chain, worn by all previous presidents.

Source: Associated Press
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