ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- African leaders need to stand in solidarity to prevent the political stalemate in the Ivory Coast from erupting into civil war, a spokesman said.
African Union negotiators are trying to break the political deadlock in the Ivory Coast. Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo refuses to step down despite a U.N. Security Council resolution recognizing Alassane Ouattara as the winner of last year's presidential election.
Sonny Ugoh, a spokesman for the Economic Community of West African States, said divisions among the African negotiators could lead to problems down the road.
"The position of ECOWAS is that Ouattara won the election," he was quoted by Voice of America as saying. "But now, when you begin to get some sections of the African continent (starting) to suggest that that is not the case, then we begin to have a problem."
Ouattara is operating out of a hotel in Abidjan where he is surrounded by forces loyal to Gbagbo and U.N. peacekeepers. Gbagbo said he won't accept any resolution that doesn't keep him in power.
Three people were reportedly killed in the Ivory Coast this week as fighting continued. Financial records were destroyed Tuesday when the country's Treasury building caught fire.
Ugoh said African leaders needed to stay on course to prevent the situation from escalating.
"We don't want a situation where (conditions) will deteriorate and, suddenly, we have a civil war in our hands," he was quoted as saying.
