Presidential election stirs ethnic clashes in ICoast town

DAOUKRO, Ivory Coast: Political tension in central Ivory Coast ahead of a looming presidential vote has stoked friction along ethnic lines, in a country still scarred by post-election turmoil nearly a decade ago.

Clashes erupted in the town of Daoukro last Thursday after President Alassane Ouattara announced he would run for a third term on October 31, thanks to a controversial tweak to the constitution. The protests began in a stronghold of former president Henri Konan Bedie, who is standing again at the age of 86. But two days later, political turbulence lurched into a battle along ethnic lines.