UNSC endorses Ouattara as winner of elections in Cote d''Ivoire

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 9 (KUNA) -- After five days of haggling, the Security Council finally recognized late Wednesday opposition leader Alassane Ouattara as the winner of the presidential elections in C`te d'Ivoire.
The council took the stance despite outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo's claim to victory, his call for calm and warning of "targeted measures" against anybody threatening the peace process in the West African country.
Russia held up action in the 15-member body, claiming the Council has no business certifying domestic elections in any country.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS have already recognized Ouattara's victory.
In the meantime, Gbagbo is clinging to power and even formed his new Cabinet last week.
"In view of ECOWAS' recognition of Mr. Alassane Dramane Ouattara as President-elect of C`te d'Ivoire and representative of the freely expressed voice of the Ivorian people as proclaimed by the Independent Electoral Commission, the members of the Security Council call on all stakeholders to respect the outcome of the election," US Deputy Permanent Representative Brooke Anderson, whose country holds the Council's rotating presidency, told reporters in a statement following Council closed-door consultations. "The members of the Security Council condemn in the strongest possible terms any effort to subvert the popular will of the people or undermine either the integrity of the electoral process or the free and fair elections in C`te d'Ivoire," she added. The UN's Special envoy in the country Young jin Choi told a press conference yesterday in the country's commercial capital Abidjan that "The Ivorian people have chosen Mr. Alassane Ouattara with an irrefutable margin as the winner over Mr. Laurent Gbagbo." The UN has been exerting efforts to reunite the country - the world's largest cocoa exporter - after it was split by civil war in 2002 into a Government-controlled south and a rebel-held north. The Council reiterated in its press statement its readiness "to impose targeted measures against persons who attempt to threaten the peace process, obstruct the work of the UNOCI (the UN Mission in C`te d'Ivoire) and other international actors, or commit serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law." It deplored the suspension of non-governmental media, recalled "the importance that all citizens of C`te d'Ivoire have full access to pluralistic and diverse information," and urged the authorities to immediately restore equitable access to State media. (end) sj.rk KUNA 090933 Dec 10NNNN