Ivory Coast warily awaited a U.N. Security Council resolution to shepherd the war-divided country toward long-delayed elections on Tuesday amid concerns it could spark a return to violence, according to Reuters. A French proposal to extend by a year President Laurent Gbagbo's mandate, which expires on Tuesday, threatens to anger his supporters by stripping him of much of his power, but it could also alienate the opposition by keeping him in office. Several dozen troops were posted at strategic zones in the main city of Abidjan on Tuesday afternoon, near the headquarters of the state television channel and close to the residential area home to Gbagbo and many foreign diplomats. A senior military officer said it was a precautionary move designed to reassure the civilian population ahead of the approval of the resolution, expected later on Tuesday. Elections were due a year ago when Gbagbo's five-year term expired but they could not be held after rebels who seized the north of the country in a 2002/03 civil war refused to disarm. But a year after a U.N. peace plan extended Gbagbo's term, little has changed. Many in Abidjan were trying to continue their daily business as normal. Stamping papers in the school office while kids played outside in the blistering midday heat, administrator Gaoussou Traore tried to put his concerns to the back of his mind. "We're just carrying on like there's nothing. We're telling ourselves it will be fine and we're setting our worries aside," he said, as a cluster of secretaries chatted opposite his desk. Young Gbagbo supporters who have rioted in the streets on a regular basis since the four year crisis began, have warned against any attempt to override the constitution which sets out Gbagbo's powers but the opposition has demanded that he leave. Unlike 2005 when the rebels made vague threats to "take up their responsibilities" and the ferociously partisan press would daily print politicians' calls for their supporters to mobilise, the rhetoric has been notably cooler this year. "There is a bit of anxiety among the people but there are no visible signs of the tension," said Colonel Charles de Kersabiec, spokesman for the 4,000-strong French peacekeeping force which backs up 7,600 soldiers deployed by the U.N. Pascal Lamadieu, the Abidjan-based manager of risk management consultancy Odyssey West Africa, told Reuters there were few of the usual warning signs of trouble ahead. "No-one thinks there's anything serious coming," he said, adding though that disturbances often began in a sudden and unexpected manner. "Those ready to protest are fewer and fewer because many of them are growing tired of this situation." Crime and unemployment have soared especially in Abidjan since the war, and the recent dumping of toxic waste there, which killed ten and made thousands ill, brought more misery. Identification of voters and disarmament of rebels and also several thousand pro-Gbagbo militias in the country's south-west are the key remaining hurdles before elections can take place. Though Premier Charles Konan Banny achieved some progress on all of these since being named last December, he has faced resistance from all of the factions who some analysts say gain too much financially from the crisis to want to hasten its end. Car mechanic Lacina Fofana in the rebel stronghold city of Bouake, said he shared their view. "We're fed up with this war. Those who are close to Gbagbo or (rebel leader) Soro, don't feel the negative effects of this war because they're just getting richer with every passing day."
