President Rejects Demands to Leave Office

Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo promised to stay in office despite a clash between security forces and protesters demanding he step down when his term expired at midnight.

Soldiers and riot police in the country’s commercial capital, Abidjan, fired warning shots and tear gas to force opposition supporters marching toward the presidential palace to turn back. Several people were reported injured, but it was not clear how seriously, U.N. sources said.

Elections were to be held Sunday, but Gbagbo canceled the vote, saying the civil war-riven country wasn’t ready. Rebels and opposition supporters agreed, but rejected his claim that the constitution allows him to stay in power until an election is held.