Ivory Coast's UN ambassador warns of potential genocide

Laurent Gbagbo is refusing to step down from president despite his rival, Alassane Ouattara, being internationally accepted as the presidential election winner.

The UN has accused state media of inciting hatred against it.

Gbagbo said that Ouattara's victory in November was illegitimate. Meanwhile, both men have been sworn in as president.

Bamba, who was appointed by Ouattara, was formally welcomed at the UN's New York headquarters yesterday, solidifying UN support for Ouattara.

At a press conference, Bamba said Ouattara had been elected in a "free, fair, transparent, democratic election".

"To me the debate is over, now you are talking about how and when Mr Gbagbo will leave office," he said.

The ambassador said Ouattara's primary concern now was the "massive violation of human rights" in the past few weeks, where he said 172 people had been killed "only because they want to demonstrate, they want to speak out, they want to defend the will of the people".

"We think it's unacceptable. Thus, one of the messages I try to get across during the conversations I have conducted so far, is [that] we are on the brink of genocide."

Bamba said some houses had been marked according to the residents' tribal background, and that he was concerned about what could happen next. "Something should be done," he said.

Bamba said he hoped to meet with every member of the UN Security Council and "explain to them the gravity of the situation".

"We expect the United Nations to be credible and the United Nations to prevent violation and to prevent the election to be stolen from the people," he said.

The UN has around 9,500 peacekeepers in Ivory Coast. Gbagbo has told them to leave, accusing them of interfering in Ivorian affairs, but the UN has refused to do so.

Almost 20,000 people - mostly women and children - have fled Ivory Coast for neighbouring Liberia, fearing further unrest

Ouattara was initially declared the winner of the elections but his victory was overturned by the Constitutional Council, led by an ally of Gbago, who ruled that votes in parts of the rebel-held north loyal to Ouattara were invalid.