ALL AFRICA REPORT: Religious leaders in Ivory Coast have called for six days of prayer and fasting for peace.
In a joint statement released on December 9 the leaders said, "Therefore, in the name of God, we recommend six days of fasting and prayer for peace in country, from December 13-18, 2010."
The religious leaders "further stated, "Faced with the looming threat, we make this solemn appeal not to yield to provocations and violence from whatever side they come from; not to utter words of ethnic, religious and nationalistic exclusion; not to commit acts of intimidation, threat and unproductive provocation."
"After having rejoiced about how the first round of elections occurred, we are now concerned about the turn of events in the few days leading up to the second round," they said.
Côte d'Ivoire now has two Presidents with two respective Prime Ministers and their governments.On December 3, the Constitutional Council annulled the results declared on December 2 by the Election Commission under which the winner of the election was Alassane Ouattara with 54 percent of the vote, and instead they declared that the winner of the ballot held on November 28 was the outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo.
While the international community has recognized the victory of Ouattara, fear of fresh violence in the country is growing, also fuelled by ethnic division.
Today the European Union should establish "restrictive measures against Côte d'Ivoire, which refers to those who are obstructing the peace process, and in particular, those who do not want to accept the election results," the leaders said.
The country has been suspended from the activities of the African Union.
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