The disputed presidential election outcome between opposition leader Alassane Ouattara and incumbent Laurent Gbagbo has threatened to derail a fragile peace process in the west African nation.
The renewed refugee flow has also put neighboring Liberia and Guinea on high alert.
"In my village the majority voted massively for President Laurent Gbagbo, and [the New Forces soldiers] threatened us because of that. They came to our houses and started to harass us, to mistreat us," said Jean-Jacques Issignate, 19, from Nyale, an Ivorian village along the Guinea border. "We fled to the forest ... I spent one week in the forest."
Provisional results from a November presidential runoff intended to end more than 10 years of civil war showed Ouattara as the winner with a nearly eight-point margin.
Earlier this month, the nation's highest court, headed by an ally of Gbagbo, canceled thousands of votes from the north -- Ouattara's stronghold -- and declared Gbagbo the winner with 51 percent of the vote.
Oldest story in the book it seems: the not-so-peaceful transition of power. The international community is backing Ouattara's bid for the country's presidency, but Gbagbo isn't going to give up without a fight, and that's why everyone's getting out of the way before the inevitable UN action puts yet another fire zone on the map. No doubt the conflict will draw the usual mercs and warlords looking to make a name for themselves, and these days who knows what private military companies may get involved here as we head into 2011.
What I do know is that most likely, things are going to get a lot bloodier here and soon.
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And hardly anyone in this country so much as said Boo! in 2000. My heart goes out to Cote d'Ivoire's people, seemingly headed toward suffering, but I admit to awe, too.
And as always, things aren't as cut and dried as "Outtara is the good guy and Gbagbo the bad guy".
Ideology is a luxury compared to say, survival.
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