ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Alassane Ouattara, internationally recognized as the rightful president of the Ivory Coast, rules over a hotel compound of a few acres, observers say.
The garden of the 300-room, five-star Golf Hotel in Abidjan has become a military camp for U.N. peacekeepers guarding against an attack by incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo's forces, The Guardian reported Friday.
The chairman of the electoral commission, Youssouf Bakayoko, announced Ouattara's victory in the hotel when Gbagbo kept him off state television.
Gbagbo refused to accept defeat and, international observers say, has inflicted a wave of terror that has left more than 200 people dead. He also has besieged Ouattara in the Golf Hotel. Food has to be airlifted in by U.N. helicopter.
Ouattara holds Cabinet meetings in an air-conditioned tent and hosts news conferences with journalists flown in by helicopter.
This week, even though Gbagbo promised to lift the blockade, the road to the hotel was still blocked by soldiers.
"Mr. Gbagbo has no credibility," Ouattara said. "He announced he was going to lift the blockade. Well, here is someone who is always ready to make promises he won't keep."
