Cote d'Ivoire leader calls for an international intervention

ABIDJAN, Cote d'Ivoire - A top ally of the man widely recognized as Cote d'Ivoire's president said incumbent Laurent Gbagbo is using stalling tactics to stay in power and urged the international community on Saturday to intervene with "legitimate force" to remove him.

Meanwhile, Gbagbo supporters who were called on to remove Alassane Ouattara from the Golf Hotel on New Year's morning failed to materialize as United Nations Bangladeshi riot police guarded the hotel's entryway in full crowd-control attire.

Ouattara's Prime Minister, Guillaume Soro, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Gbagbo would only leave power by force and that the international community will have to intervene to protect democracy in Africa. He dismissed Gbagbo's offer to invite an international investigation into the country as a delay tactic.