African leaders bid to resolve Ivory Coast deadlock
The African Union has named a panel of six African presidents to mediate Ivory Coast’s political crisis.
The list, announced at the AU summit today, includes two leaders who came to power through elections – the presidents of South Africa and Tanzania.
But the panel also includes three men who headed coups in their countries – the leaders of Mauritania, Chad and Burkina Faso.
Nigeria’s president and the current chairman of the African Union will both serve on the panel, which is being given a month to try to resolve the crisis in Ivory Coast.
The country’s incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo has refused to leave office two months after the international community said he lost the election to Alassane Ouattara.
