06 / 04 / 2011
Five key reasons Ivory Coast's election led to civil war
Ivory Coast’s long-anticipated Nov. 28 presidential election was meant to help the country move beyond its deep divisions.
Instead, the vote fueled a political stalemate that sucked the country back into civil war.More than four months after voters elected President Alassane Ouattara, renegade incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo still refuses to step down even though rebel forces have now confined him to a bunker beneath the presidential residence.
Hundreds of Ivorians have died in increasingly heavy fighting that included attacks this week by the United Nations and France.
How did a simple vote turn into this? There are a number of reasons that go back years, even decades.