Ivory Coast still violent, ICRC says

MONROVIA, Libya, May 3 (UPI) -- The situation in Ivory Coast is too dangerous for the tens of thousands of people displaced in Liberia to return home, the ICRC warned.

Conflict erupted in Ivory Coast after November elections meant to unite a country divided by civil war in 2002. The international community recognized Alassane Ouattara as the winner, though incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down. He was arrested last month.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said that, even though the political stalemate is over, Ivory Coast remains a dangerous place.

"For tens of thousands of displaced people in the west and most refugees in neighboring Liberia, it is still too dangerous to return home," the relief agency said in a statement.

The ICRC said the situation in Abidjan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast, is improving to the point that many people are able to return to their homes. In the western parts of the country, however, entire villages were razed and the situation "remains critical."

"Not only are security conditions in Ivory Coast poor but because the houses of many refugees have been looted the refugees no longer have tools and seed back home," Karin Hofmann, head of the ICRC delegation in Liberia, said in a statement. "In these circumstances, returning now would mean missing out on the planting season, with dire consequences."