Ouattara inaugurated as Ivory Coast president
Baku, May 21 (AZERTAC). Alassane Ouattara has been inaugurated as Ivory Coast`s president after months of violence and political turmoil.
Saturday`s ceremony in the administrative capital of Yamoussoukro ends a political standoff and short conflict that put Ouattara in power.
Ouattara won a November poll but was prevented from taking office after strongman leader Laurent Gbagbo refused to cede power. Gbagbo was arrested April 11 after French forces led an air raid on the presidential compound where he had locked himself inside a bunker. He and the former first lady are under house arrest awaiting trial, as are many of his ministers and advisers.
More than 1,000 civilians were killed in the conflict that erupted after both men declared themselves the winner of the poll.
Saturday`s inauguration in Yamoussoukro is to be attended by some 20 heads of state, in a dramatic turnaround underscoring the broad international support he enjoys after an electoral victory that was certified by the United Nations.
It also symbolizes the end of a political saga that claimed hundreds of lives. Bodies still clog the wells of towns in Ivory Coast`s troubled west, where forces loyal to the two men waged a bloody battle for power.
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