In Belated Inauguration, Ivory Coast’s President Urges Unity

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Source: The New York Times

DAKAR, Senegal — Alassane Ouattara was formally inaugurated Saturday as Ivory Coast’s president in a ceremony in the West African nation’s capital, Yamoussoukro, nearly six weeks after his predecessor was forcibly removed from office with the help of French and United Nations military strikes.

Mr. Ouattara called for reconciliation and peace in a country that was once one of Africa’s richest but that has been devastated by years of unrest, political division and civil war.

“The time has arrived for Ivorians to come together,” Mr. Ouattara, a former economist and banker, said in a speech that did not deviate from his habitually austere manner. “Dear brothers and sisters, let’s celebrate peace. Like the great people we are, we are going to reunite. Yes, we are going to come together. Let us learn to live together again.”

The country is still reeling from a four-month armed standoff that killed as many as 3,000 people, according to officials and human rights groups, and that sent tens of thousands of refugees fleeing violence into neighboring lands. About 160,000 are still in exile in Liberia, according to the International Rescue Committee.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/world/africa/22ivory.html