Ivory Coast Military Blocks All Borders

Opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara was declared the winner with 54.1 percent of the votes.

[xtypo_dropcap]T[/xtypo_dropcap]he Ivory Cost military closed the country’s borders following a delay of the preliminary results of their presidential elections. Opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara was declared the winner with 54.1 percent of the votes. Announcements of the results of Sunday’s runoff were blocked by the ruling party, AP reported. Paul Yao N'Dre, head of the Constitutional Council, said “Because of disagreements on the results of some regions, the independent electoral commission wasn’t able to give the provisional results,” the BBC report. The delayed results heightened tensions, and fraud is suspected in the North. The U.N. Security Council “urged the supporters of the candidates to refrain from any provocation or recourse to violence throughout the electoral process,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a U.N. news release. He also stressed that leaders would be held responsible for violent actions. As tensions rise, the military closed ”the air, land, and sea border of the country ... to all movement of people and goods,” military spokesman Babri Gohourou said, according to the BBC.