Canadian Ambassador to Ivory Coast Ignores Expulsion Order

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon says that Ottawa will not recognize Laurent Gbagbo as president of the West African country.

A game of diplomatic bravado is shaping up in the Ivory Coast. Gbagbo is refusing to leave office despite the fact that the Ivorian electoral commission declared his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, the winner of last November’s election. In protest Ottawa has since told Ivorian diplomats to leave Canada, and in retaliation Gbagbo issued orders demanding Canadian officials in the Ivory Coast to return home. The Canadian ambassador to the once prosperous West African nation has defied those orders with backing from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying that Gbagbo is not president and therefore his request is illegitimate. The political standoff in the country continues, with other West African states threatening military intervention if Gbagbo doesn’t step down.