Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo must surrender his presidential post by the end of the week or face international sanctions, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday, denouncing Mr. Gbagbo's stand as scandalous.
Incumbent president Mr. Gbagbo is locked in a power struggle with rival Alassane Ouattara as both claim victory in a Nov. 28 election that was meant to reunite the world's top cocoa grower after a 2002-03 civil war but has instead deepened divisions.
Mr. Ouattara, a former prime minister, is widely recognized abroad as having won the election legitimately.
"There is no other option for Mr. Gbagbo but to rapidly leave a position of power that he is usurping," Mr. Sarkozy told a news conference at the end of a European Union summit.
"Laurent Gbagbo and his wife have their fate in their hands. If Laurent Gbagbo has not quit before the end of the week, the post he holds in violation of the will of the Ivorian people, they will be put on the sanctions list by name."
Mr. Ouattara's allies urged Ivorians on Friday to march again through Abidjan to seize the state broadcaster's building, raising fears of further violence after a failed attempt on Thursday to do the same thing left at least 10 protesters dead.
Mr. Sarkozy slammed Mr. Gbagbo's stand and suggested he could even end up being pursued by the International Criminal Court.
"It's up to Mr Gbagbo to decide the image he wants to leave in history. Does he want to leave the image of a man of peace? There's still time but time is passing and he must go," he said.
"Or does he want to leave the image of someone who allowed totally innocent civilians to be shot? In that case, there are international jurisdictions such as the (International) Criminal Court where the prosecutor himself says he is watching the situation very closely and that those who ordered the firing will be called to account."
Mr. Sarkozy had waited last week for the United Nations to publicly back Mr. Ouattara before publicly stating a similar line. France was Ivory Coast's colonial ruler until 1960.
But Mr. Sarkozy used strong terms to express his position on Friday as tensions soared in the West African country, calling the situation "totally inadmissible" and "a scandal."