The United States remains committed to finding a peaceful resolution to the presidential crisis that has gripped Côte d'Ivoire since the November 2010 elections, a State Department spokesman says.

"Since the beginning of the political crisis in Côte d'Ivoire, the United States has strongly supported African-led efforts to achieve a peaceful transition of power between former President [Laurent] Gbagbo and his elected successor, Alassane Ouattara," acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner said at the regular press briefing March 24 in Washington.

"And we firmly stand behind President-elect Ouattara," he added.

The small West African nation has been gripped by political turmoil since the November 28 presidential runoff election, when Gbagbo refused to accept results that showed Ouattara had won. Since then, both men have claimed victory.

Gbagbo's refusal to accept the results of the runoff election, which were announced by the Independent Election Commission (CEI) and certified by the special representative of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has created a crisis in Côte d'Ivoire. As a signatory to the 2005 Pretoria Agreement, Gbagbo had pledged to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in Côte d'Ivoire with U.N. participation, a commitment that was reaffirmed in the 2007 Ouagadougou Political Agreement.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State William Fitzgerald is attending a meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) focused on the political crisis in Côte d'Ivoire, Toner told reporters.

"And we expect a strong statement from this meeting and support [for] the efforts of ECOWAS on this issue," Toner said. "We look forward also to the upcoming resolution at the [U.N.] Human Rights Council that will forcefully condemn the continuing abuses and violations of human rights in Côte d'Ivoire and establish a commission of inquiry to investigate these abuses."

Toner said this will amplify the message to Gbagbo that he must respect the will of the Ivorian people.

"The international community will not stand by while one man usurps power and destroys his country," Toner added.

The United States has actively supported the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), which supports the protection of civilians. And the United States is also supporting sending an additional 2,000 troops for the UNOCI to strengthen its capacity to carry out its mandate, he said.

Added to that are sanctions imposed on the Gbagbo regime, he noted.

The United States imposed financial sanctions against Gbagbo, his wife, Simone Gbagbo, and three of his senior advisers and members of his inner circle, the U.S. Treasury Department announced January 6. The sanctions were announced by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), responsible for the administration of economic and financial sanctions, which cited recent actions by Gbagbo that threaten the peace and the national reconciliation process in Côte d'Ivoire as a basis for imposing the sanctions.

The sanctions also targeted three of Laurent Gbagbo's senior advisers and members of his inner circle — Desire Tagro, Pascal Affi N'Guessan, and Alcide Ilahiri Djedje -- for acting for or on his behalf. As a result of the sanctions, U.S. citizens are prohibited from conducting financial or commercial transactions with these designated individuals, and any assets they hold that are under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, according to OFAC.

"Laurent Gbagbo continues to demonstrate wanton disregard for the will and well-being of the people of Côte d'Ivoire," OFAC Director Adam Szubin said. "Today's designations will isolate him and his inner circle from the world's financial system and underscore the desire of the international community that he step down."

"His refusal to accept the CEI's election results -- which have been endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, the African Union, the European Union, and the Economic Community of West African States — and relinquish his authority undermines the implementation of these political agreements and threatens the peace and reconciliation process in Côte d'Ivoire," the Treasury Department said in an announcement.

U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Susan Rice told reporters in New York January 6 that the United States and the European Union and others have taken steps, including sanctions against Gbagbo and those close to him to block their ability to travel and move resources and assets.

"We think that kind of pressure is warranted given the continued refusal to accept and act on the will of the Ivorian people," Rice said. "And certainly in case of the U.N. we have a sanctions regime, they exist on Côte D'Ivoire and to the extent that this remains stalled, I think we are obliged to look at whether it needs to be augmented and invigorated."

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)