ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- The United Nations is committed to providing the Ivory Coast with the assistance it needs for national legislative elections in December, an official said.
A political stalemate that pushed the country to the brink of war ended in April, nearly six months after rival claims of victory in the country's presidential election.
Alassane Ouattara was seen internationally as the winner of the election but until French troops helped capture his opponent, former President Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to cede power, the country was in turmoil.
Bert Koenders, U.N. special envoy to Ivory Coast, told Ivorian Prime Minister Guillaume Soro the United Nations was ready to help ensure a peaceful election in December.
"It will be multifaceted support involving human resources, equipment, logistics and, of course, security," a spokesman for the U.N. mission in Ivory Coast said in a statement.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees noted that it worked alongside Liberian refugee commissions to help repatriate more than 100 Ivorians who fled the post-election crisis.
Thousands were killed in the conflict that followed November elections. Ouattara has asked the International Criminal Court to probe the violence, though both sides are suspected of committing atrocities.
The November presidential election was intended to unite a country divided by civil war in 2003.
