A man distributes bread to children at Abidjan's St. Ambrose church, a temporary refuge for people who fled from clashes between forces loyal to incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Ouattara (File Photo)

The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed during the political crisis that followed November's vote. Added to the deaths from the country's brief civil war and nearly 10 years of instability, the total is still far below what neighbors Liberia and Sierra Leone experienced during their recent upheaval.

Future of

"Ivorianess"

U.N. Special Representative to Ivory Coast Young-jin Choi says that is a good sign for a future free of the divisions of "Ivorite."

"Ivorians have a culture of not killing each other, that is one of the reasons why Gbagbo brought in the mercenaries from Liberia and other countries to do the dirty jobs," said Young-jin Cho. "That explains also the low probability of a recurrence of civil war."

For the moment, Gbagbo and his party are calling on Ivorians to stop the fighting and move on from this political crisis. Resolving the issue of "Ivorite" in the military means reconstituting Gbagbo's southern-dominated army to include members of the northern-based rebellion that helped bring Ouattara to power.

There is also the issue of justice for human-rights abuses, which President Ouattara says will be handled by an impartial truth and reconciliation commission empowered to question the guilt of any Ivorian, regardless of their heritage.