ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The Ivorian people have chosen only one person to serve as their head of state, the information minister from neighboring Liberia said.
Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and opposition leader and former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara each issued claims of victory in last month's presidential contest that was meant to unite the country.
Cletus Seah, the Liberian information minister, told the BBC that his government was calling for peace during the tense political standoff.
"The will of the people points to one conclusion -- that the people have chosen one person, not two, as the winner of the presidential election," he said.
Supporters of Gbagbo have suggested the stalemate could end in a power-sharing deal. Elections in 2000, the United Nations said, were marred by violence when supporters of Gbagbo took to the streets after military leader Robert Guei declared himself the winner.
Liberian fighters were involved in a 2002 civil war in Ivory Coast that divided the country between rebel-hold north and pro-government south. Former warlord and Liberian President Charles Taylor, for his part, launched his rebellion from the former French colony in 1989.
Susan Rice, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, said Washington believed the election results showed that Ouattara was the official winner of the presidential contest.
"This is an important moment for the Security Council," she was quoted as saying. "The results are known, the facts are clear, and they need to be acknowledged and respected, that's the position of the United States."
