Envoy warns Ivory Coast 'on brink of genocide'

Ivory Coast's newly appointed ambassador to the UN Youssoufou Bamba, has warned the country is "on the brink of genocide".

Cape Verde President Pedro Pires, left, walks with Ivory Coast Prime Minister Ake N'gbo on arrival at the airport in Abidjan. A delegation of West African leaders went to Ivory Coast on Tuesday to confront Laurent Gbagbo and demand that he step down from the presidency or face a possible regional military intervention. File photo: AP.

Ivory Coast’s new U.N. ambassador says an increasingly dangerous tug-of-war over the presidency is pushing the West African country to “the brink of genocide.”

Veteran diplomat Youssoufou Bamba says he’s already consulting with members of the new Security Council before its first meeting next week about ways to help president-elect Alassane Ouattara assume power.

Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent, refuses to step down although the world recognizes Ouattara as the winner of recent elections.