Mbeki Mediates in Ivory Coast Presidency Standoff

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki today sought to defuse an increasingly violent political crisis in Ivory Coast sparked by a disputed election that has seen two rivals laying claim to the presidency.

Laurent Gbagbo, 65, the incumbent, was sworn in as president at a ceremony at the presidential palace yesterday after the Constitutional Council declared him the winner of the Nov. 28 elections. Hours later, Alassane Ouattara said he had taken the oath of office, following a Dec. 2 announcement by the Electoral Commission that he won 54.1 percent of the vote.