The administration challenging Laurent Gbagbo for the presidency of Ivory Coast demanded in a statement Thursday that the national military recognise his rival Alassane Ouattara as head of state.
"The government demands that the Security and Defence Forces carry out their republican mission under President Alassane Ouattara, the supreme chief of the armed forces," said the rival government named by Ouattara in a statement.
It also demanded "all state officials and agents… to stop working with the govenment immediately and wait for instructions from Prime Minister Guillaume Soro," the former rebel whom Ouattara has named as head of his cabinet.
The move intensified efforts by Ouattara's camp to squeeze Gbagbo, who faces growing isolation amid pressure to step down from major international powers including the UN Security Council and the African Union.
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