Once the fight for power was on, any argument to keep an opponent out of the race was valid : Robert Guei had Alassane Ouattara banned from the presidential election because of his being Burkinabais (from neighbouring Burkina Fasso) and Henri Konan Bedié wanted him out because he was a Muslim.
Being French or American is equally alien and the difference does not matter that much ; being from Burkina Fasso or Liberia is worse, by far. Laurent Gbagbo's efforts to promote the concept of pure Ivorian parentage is an evidence for that. When through hell, just keep going. W. Churchill
