ABIDJAN - Ivory Coast's top court on Monday cleared the path for President Alassane Ouattara to seek a contentious third term, as protests turned violent in several cities and fears grew of a repeat of the conflict that claimed 3,000 lives in the West African country a decade ago.
The district is thought to be a fiefdom of exiled former president Gbagbo, whose supporters had filed an application for him to run in the vote. Witnesses said security forces took down barricades set up by protesters on several roads in the west of the former French colony. The electoral commission has said that anyone convicted of a crime will be disqualified from running for the top office and barred Soro from running as he was sentenced in April to 20 years in prison for "concealment of embezzlement of public funds".