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Ouattara refuses power-sharing deal?

Laurent Gbagbo, president of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire, addresses the 62nd General Assembly at the United Nations on September 26, 2007 in New York City. (UPI Photo/Monika Graff)
Laurent Gbagbo, president of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire, addresses the 62nd General Assembly at the United Nations on September 26, 2007 in New York City. (UPI Photo/Monika Graff) | License Photo

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- A power-sharing deal offered by incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo in the Ivory Coast was rejected, sources in the country said Tuesday.

No clear winner emerged from a late 2010 election meant to unite a country divided by a civil war in 2002. Gbagbo has refused to step down and enjoys the support of the country's military despite international backing for rival leader Alassane Ouattara.

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The United Nations estimates that at least 200 people have been killed in political-related violence since the disputed Nov. 28 election in the Ivory Coast.

Regional leaders from the Economic Community of West African States have traveled to Abidjan in an effort to find a peaceful solution to the crisis. The African community, nevertheless, said it was considering military intervention to end the stalemate.

Sources told al-Jazeera that Ouattara rejected an offer by Gbagbo for a power-sharing deal that that had the internationally backed leader serving as vice president.

An adviser to Gbagbo told the news agency on condition of anonymity that Olusegun Obasanjo, a former Nigerian president and key African negotiator, offered Gbagbo exile abroad and a monthly allowance if he stepped down.

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The U.N. Security Council in a late Monday session called in Ivorian broadcasters to stop broadcasting information that the world body said was inciting ethnic violence.

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