Prime Ministerial spokesman Meite Sindou says shots were fired Monday in Abidjan.[break]
The U.N. has endorsed the electoral commission´s announcement that Alassane Ouattara won the November runoff. Incumbent Laurent Gbagbo says the constitutional court says he won. Both men took oaths of office and formed governments last week.
Sindou — who belongs to Ouattara´s government — says the clash happened near Ouattara´s headquarters at the Golf Hotel. He says no one was hurt when New Forces rebels loyal to Ouattara clashed with Gbagbo´s soldiers who had set up barricades near the hotel. He says it´s unclear who fired first.
The European Union is poised to impose sanctions on Ivory Coast unless the incumbent president recognizes his rival as the winner of last month´s election, Finland´s foreign minister said Monday.
"There is a strong possibility of sanctions," Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb told reporters before a meeting of the bloc´s foreign ministers. "We are of course worried about the situation in Ivory Coast."
Alassane Ouattara´s electoral win was certified by the United Nations, yet both he and incumbent Laurent Gbagbo have claimed victory and taken oaths of office.
Ouattara has been recognized as the legal president by the U.S., the EU, former colonial ruler France and the African Union.
The most immediate effect of any sanctions would be the withholding of some euro255 million ($340 million) in EU development aid.
Last week, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she is prepared to consider sanctions, "if there is no quick resolution to this crisis."
After a decade of civil war, the election was supposed to bring stability to the country that used to be one of the most prosperous in Africa.
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