ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Ivory Coast’s opposition leader said he would not respect a curfew imposed Saturday because it would open the door to electoral fraud the day before elections that could restore stability to the world’s biggest cocoa producer after a decade of unrest.
This West African country’s President Laurent Gbagbo issued a decree Saturday calling for a nationwide curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Saturdayand today, and from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday to Wednesday to prevent any tampering with vote counting. Opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara said the move was illegal and unconstitutional, adding that a curfew should only come after the election if there is trouble.
Today’s runoff election is supposed to be the last step to end a civil war that broke out in Ivory Coast in 2002 and left the country divided between a rebel-held north and a government-held south.
Front Section, Pages 15 on 11/28/2010