ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — West African leaders say they plan to head back to Ivory Coast next week to resume negotiations with Laurent Gbagbo after a first attempt failed to force him from the presidency.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said Wednesday that the delegation would return to Abidjan on Jan. 3.
The 15-nation regional bloc ECOWAS, headquartered in Nigeria, had threatened a regional military intervention if Gbagbo did not step aside and hand over power to Alassane Ouattara, certified by the U.N. as the winner of the Nov. 28 election.
The U.N. says at least 173 people have died in violence over the long-delayed vote, which the U.N., U.S., European Union and African Union say Gbagbo lost.
