Out of the barrel of a gun  [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]

The tense standoff continues on the Ivory Coast.

An "Incumbent President" and a "President Elect" are still at square odds -- one refusing to back down, the other unable to move; one calling for war, the other saying he's not afraid to fight. And neither is willing to step back from the dividing line.

By Western assessments, the "winner" of the disputed November 28, 2010 poll remains barricaded inside a hotel two months after the election, while the "loser" controls the army -- and the country.

The entire West African nation remains locked in uncertainty. Hopes are slowly burning within, while the flames of war are being vigorously fanned from outside.

'Incumbent President' Laurent Gbagbo holds on to the Presidency, while 'President Elect Allesandre Outtara' continues to claim it – but neither wants to share power.

Supported by the UN, EU and USA, the forcibly garrisoned Outtara has begun playing an economic chess game to deprive Gbagbo of the funds he needs to pay the army.

Outtara has called for ban on sale of cocoa for one month and for the West African Central Bank to cut the flow of funds to Abijan.

The Central Bank responded positively, but not quickly enough. Gbagbo accessed the funds and the bank fired its Cote d'Ivoire Governor and accused him of complicity, resulting in the army seizing the local branches of the regional bank.

The World Bank froze aid late last year, but economic sanctions have been slow to have an effect.

Now, with neighboring Benin, Cape Verde and Kenya having failed to convince the determined Gbagbo to step aside, Outtara and his international backers have quickly opted for military intervention by proxy.

Cote d'Ivoire's neighboring military chiefs met recently in Mali to discuss the proposed military intervention. But even while they may be willing, an intervention would be impossible without maximum Western support.

Ouattara is relying wholly and solely on the support of British, French and US for what he calls "logistical support" for the plans to use "legitimate force" to remove Gbagbo.

He's has been flying his ministers to neighboring Togo and Burkina Faso to seek backing for the planned military onslaught, while his UN Ambassador is lobbying the Security Council to support a cross-border attack from neighboring African states.