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Gbagbo given 12 more months

Thousands of firebrand militants who helped sweep President Laurent Gbagbo to power five years ago rallied at a soccer stadium in Ivory Coast's largest city to celebrate a UN-backed 12-month extension of his mandate.

Chaotic hordes of opposition youth demanding Gbagbo step down held a similar rally at another Abidjan stadium on Sunday that saw riot police lob tear gas at mobs who set burning tires ablaze in the streets.

There were no indications Tuesday's rally would turn violent, as many have in the past.

The influential leader of the pro-Gbagbo Young Patriots, Ble Goude, said he would tell militants to support a UN- and African Union-backed solution to Ivory Coast's latest crisis that calls for a one-year extension of Gbagbo's mandate, the appointment of a new prime minister, and the holding of a postponed presidential ballot within a year.

"My message is to call on the Young Patriots to stay within the peace process so that elections take place before 12 months," Ble Goude said before the rally. "Three years of war has brought us nothing except desolation and sadness. It's time to make peace."

Goude, considered a close ally of Gbagbo, has led unwieldy mobs tens of thousands strong into the highways where they burned tires and besieged foreign embassies to protest past peace deals seen as unfavorable to the loyalist cause.

On Sunday, Gbagbo said he would name a new prime minister within days to ensure a presidential ballot is held within 12 months.

The rebels reacted by proclaiming their leader, Guillaume Soro, the new premier. The move was largely symbolic, however, and was sure to increase tensions and add to confusion over who will replace the incumbent premier, Seydou Diarra.

Gbagbo has ruled the world's top cocoa producer since winning elections in 2000 that the late General Robert Guei tried to rig. Two years later, he lost control of the northern half of the country to rebels who took up arms against him after a failed coup.

A long-awaited presidential vote was initially set to have been held on Sunday, but Gbagbo canceled it, blaming rebels for failing to disarm. Government militia have also failed to lay down arms under a UN-backed nationwide disarmament plan.

Gbagbo says the Constitution gives him the right to postpone the vote and stay in power because of the conflict. Rebels and opposition leaders in Abidjan dispute his interpretation of the document and say he has no legal right to stay in power.

Known as a peaceful, economic powerhouse for decades, Ivory Coast has been in decline since Guei led the West African country's first coup d'etat in 1999.
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