ABIDJAN (Press TV) -- Police in Ivory Coast have surrounded the houses of two of President Alassane Ouattara’s main rivals after the government accused them of sedition for creating a parallel administration in defiance of Ouattara’s landslide win in Saturday’s election.
It was not immediately clear if anyone had been arrested. But the moves deepened a bitter standoff over the president’s bid for a third term that has cost more than 35 lives since August, including at least five during election day on Saturday.
Outside the residence of former president Henri Konan Bedie in the commercial capital, Abidjan, officers rolled tear gas canisters to disperse his supporters and journalists, video footage showed.
The house of another opposition candidate, former prime minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan, was also surrounded by the police, his wife told Reuters.
"We are at home with the house staff. The gendarmes have surrounded the house and we can’t leave,” said Affi N’Guessan’s wife, Angeline Kili.
The house of Assoa Adou, the leader of a party that supports former president Laurent Gbagbo, was also surrounded by the police, a witness said.
There was no immediate comment from the authorities.