No-fly zone set up as stand-off continues

By The Newsroom
Published 10th Mar 2011, 16:00 BST
Updated 10th Mar 2011, 21:50 BST
Ivory Coast's entrenched incumbent president imposed a no-fly order on UN aircraft yesterday, possibly complicating the return to the nation of the internationally recognised election winner who is attending an African Union summit in Ethiopia.

Alassane Ouattara departed Abidjan on a UN helicopter on Tuesday and then travelled to the city of Bouake, from where he took a private jet to the meeting which began in Ethiopia yesterday.

The meeting is aimed at ending Ivory Coast's three-month political crisis. State television said sitting president Laurent Gbagbo, who is refusing to cede power, would not attend but has sent a delegation.

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It marked the first time Mr Ouattara, whom Ivory Coast's electoral commission and the United Nations tasked with certifying the results of the 28 November election, has left since the political stand-off began.