2 dead in protest as Ivory Coast political crisis deepens; opposition refuses to join new govt

Ivory Coast: 2 dead in protest as crisis deepens

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — At least two protesters died Monday during an opposition demonstration that turned violent in Ivory Coast, witnesses said, deepening the crisis sparked by the president’s dissolution of the government earlier this month.

The protests came after top opposition leaders refused to join a new coalition government, effectively stopping the formation of the government that had been expected to be announced Monday.

Meanwhile, Burkina Faso’s president arrived in Abidjan on Monday to start a series of crisis negotiations with the presidential camp and the opposition. Opposition leaders invited Blaise Compaore to mediate after they refused late Sunday to participate in a new government with President Laurent Gbagbo.

The political dispute sparked protests in at least five cities across the country on Monday.

During a protest in the northern Abobo district of Abidjan, an Associated Press Television News journalist said he saw two dead bodies being guarded by police. Alexandre Brou, a local pastor, also said he watched police severely beat several protesters.

Bus driver Mema Camara said hundreds of young men started gathering early Monday morning, building barricades, cutting off all traffic and burning tires. They hurled stones at approaching cars before riot police used tear gas and fired into the air to disperse the crowds.

“The police began beating anyone they could catch,” he said. “We hid in our houses to avoid them.”

Opposition supporter Ahmed Coulibaly said the police followed demonstrators into their houses and took them away.

“We’re scandalized. We’re traumatized. It reminds us of the worst moments of the civil war,” he said.

The West African nation has been divided between a rebel-controlled north and a government-controlled south since war broke out in 2002. The sides formed a unity government in 2007 and were preparing for presidential elections when President Laurent Gbagbo dissolved the government on Feb. 12. Presidential elections have been postponed every year since 2005, when Gbagbo’s term ended.

The country’s only international television news channel, the French-language France 24, also was shuttered Monday, said the head of the country’s national audiovisual regulatory board.

Franck Anderson Kouassi said the channel’s broadcast was stopped Monday morning “for a lack of professionalism,” though he did not specify or say when it would be unblocked.

(This version RAISES context; corrects spelling to Alexandre sted Alexander.)