Soldiers in Ivory Coast are using live ammunition to break up protests after military ruler General Robert Guei and his main political opponent Laurent Gbagbo both declared themselves winner of Sunday's presidential elections. The military administration announced that General Guei had won the poll and the electoral commission had been dissolved - the few results that it had announced put Mr Gbagbo in the lead. Shortly afterwards Mr Gbagbo declared himself the true winner and called on his followers to take the streets. The security forces have been firing into the air and using tear gas and batons to try to disperse Mr Gbagbo's supporters. Protesters remove all trace of General Guei in their path France - the former colonial power - has warned the military authorities against ignoring the electorate's wishes. General Guei came to power in a coup in December last year. He recently promised to respect the result of the election, which his main opponent - Alassane Ouattara - was banned from taking part in. Violence Gunfire could be heard from several quarters of the commercial capital, Abidjan, and columns of smoke rose in the air. A BBC reporter, Charles Bambara, outside state television headquarters said members of General Guei's military guard used automatic weapons, tear gas and truncheons in an effort to disperse hundreds of Mr Gbagbo's supporters. A minister made the announcement but the army calls the shots He said soldiers also fired in the air over demonstrators marching towards General Guei's residence and the atmosphere in the centre of the city was extremely tense. Another BBC reporter, Funmi Kuo, described a column of thousands of people marching from the suburbs down one of Abidjan's main highways towards the presidential palace. She said the demonstrators, young and old, had coloured their faces with ashes or chalk and were tearing down all General Guei's election posters. Guei promised to honour election results Members of the security forces opened fire on the column and there are unconfirmed reports of injuries amongst the demonstrators. There are unconfirmed reports of violent demonstrations in towns in central Ivory Coast, Mr Gbagbo's heartland, and other provincial towns. standoff On Tuesday afternoon the interior ministry said General Guei had been elected after gaining nearly 53% of the vote, beating Mr Gbagbo's 41%, and also announced the dissolution of the electoral commission. A court ruling forbade Alassane Ouattara from standing General Guei thanked "the great people of Ivory Coast" for voting him in as he declared his "modest person the first president of the second republic." Meanwhile Mr Gbagbo declared himself head of state, announced he was dissolving the military-led transitional government and called on his supporters to take to the streets. Earlier his campaign headquarters announced they calculated Mr Gbagbo had won almost 60% of the vote compared to General Guei's 33%. Search BBC News Online ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------