Low turnout after Ivory Coast election violence

Ivory Coast voters turned out in low numbers during early voting yesterday, after an overnight curfew delayed the start of a presidential run-off aimed at ending a decade of political and economic crisis in the country.

The incumbent President, Laurent Gbagbo, faces Alassane Ouattara, a former prime minister, in a tight race that has triggered violence in the world's top cocoa- growing nation, divided by a 2002-03 civil war. An overnight curfew was called by Mr Gbagbo to stem violence after at least seven people were killed in clashes before the poll.