Ivorian leader told to step down

Gbagbo's supporters took to the streets on Monday

The main opposition candidate in Sunday's presidential election, Laurent Gbagbo, has called on military leader, General Robert Guei, to step down and hand over power immediately.

Mr Gbagbo said he would not serve as prime minister under General Guei, and ruled out a second round of voting.

He was speaking shortly before the electoral commission was due to release more results - but at the appointed hour no announcement was made and state television began screening a hospital soap opera instead.

Election officials suspended announcing results late on Monday after soldiers surrounded its headquarters.

Earlier, a break of several hours in the release of results by the electoral commission had prompted protests across the commercial capital Abidjan.

Gbagbo is the general's only real rival

Several hundred supporters of Mr Gbagbo took to the streets, accusing the military junta of cheating him of victory.

The few results made available so far show out of about 8% of votes counted Mr Gbagbo was ahead of the military ruler General Robert Guei.

But General Guei's supporters dispute this, and say their candidate is winning.

The BBC correspondent in Abidjan said the commission's headquarters was virtually taken over by the soldiers for several hours.

Soldiers have also been deployed at the national television station.

Teargas and truncheons

Soldiers clamped down hard on Mr Gbagbo's supporters, using teargas and truncheons to break up demonstrations.

Guei promised to honour election results

Protests with between 100 to 300 supporters took place in various parts of the city - including the southern Treichville distrct, the Abobo distrct and Adjame. All were suppressed violently by the military.

Many protesters chanted chanting war songs and had their faces painted.

The Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) candidate Mr Gbagbo - the only real candidate to challenge the military ruler General Robert Guei - scored 51.35% of the vote according to initial results, compared to General Guei at 40.4%.

Commission announcement

The earlier break in publication of the election results was announced on state television at 1710 local time (1710 GMT) by the president of the electoral commission, Honore Guie.

Gbagbo's supporters believe he is being cheated out of his victory

He denied claims of his arrest and said results will resume in two hours time.

He attributed the break in the publication of the results to a problem with receiving them from the provinces, adding the commission had then decided to give its staff and others a break.

According to the French news agency, AFP, a commission source reached by telephone earlier declined to say what was going on inside the premises, but broke into sobs, saying: "Stop, they will beat us."

Earlier, journalists were also ordered out of the electoral commission premises.

Low turnout

Turnout in the poll was low at less than 35%.

BBC correspondent Barnaby Phillips says the whole electoral process cannot be described as free or fair, but flawed from the start.

Soldiers kept their presence at the commission's premises

Several of General Guei's most powerful opponents have not been allowed to stand.

A Supreme Court ruling on 6 October prevented politicians such as former prime minister Alassane Ouattara - head of the Rally of Republicans (RDR) - from taking part.

Casting his vote amid tight security in central Abidjan earlier, General Guei described Ivory Coast as "a land of peace".

"All will happen calmly, the winner will win," said the general. He promised to respect the results of the vote, and stand down if he was defeated.

General Guei's 10-month rule has been characterised by political instability and rapid economic decline.