(AP) — The two candidates in Ivory Coast’s disputed presidential election took dueling oaths of office Saturday after each claimed victory, as the political crisis spiraled out of control and renewed unrest in this country once split in two by civil war. Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo defied calls from the United States, France and the United Nations to concede defeat, wrapping himself in the Ivorian flag as he was sworn in for another term. Hours later, opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara announced that he too had taken his own oath. Saturday’s developments leave Ivory Coast with two men who both claim to be president, furthering inflaming the political chaos in the West African nation whose once-prosperous economy was destroyed by the brief 2002-2003 civil war.
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