"What is non-negotiable is the victory of Laurent Gbagbo, officially elected and proclaimed, who governs the country," Gbagbo’s spokesman said.

Ivory Coast’s defiant incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo’s camp refused an offer by the internationally recognized President Alassane Ouattara to form a unity cabinet in order to end a political crisis.

Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) head Pascal Affi N'Guessan told AFP the victory over Alassane Ouattara was "non-negotiable" after a Ouattara envoy said the rival camps could work together, provided Gbagbo stand down as president.
"The problem is Alassane Ouattara's rebellion against the Constitutional Council\'s decision," N'Guessan insisted.

"The starting point is that Mr Gbagbo is the elected and officially proclaimed president, sworn in by the Constitutional Council," he said, accusing Ouattara of diversionary tactics.
"What is non-negotiable is the victory of Laurent Gbagbo, officially elected and proclaimed, who governs the country."
"Once this is recognized... we are ready to look at all means that could allow the return of peace and the country's reunification," he said.

Both Gbagbo and Outtarra have been sworn in as president, after the Independent Electoral Commission, the UN and most of the world said Ouattara won, while the Constitutional Council said vote irregularities and declared Gbagbo victor.

In an interview released Monday, UN ambassador Youssoufou Bamba, appointed by Ouattara and admitted as envoy at the UN headquarters in New York last month, said that a unity government was possible, provided Gbagbo concede defeat.

Ouattara has won the disputed election, has been recognised by theinternational community and is the "legitimate president", Bamba told the BBC, adding that "from there, Mr Gbagbo is not alone".
"He has followers, he has competent people in his party. Those people, we are prepared to work with them. In the framework of a wide composite cabinet."

AU MEDIATION
 As the stand-off intensified, the African Union mediator seeking an end to the crisis said he would return to Abidjan within days for another effort to bridge the yawning gap between the two leaders.

AU envoy and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga will fly to Abidjan within days, his spokesman said, the latest in a cascade of African leaders seeking an end to the crisis in which at least 200 have have died.
"The PM has indicated that he will return to Ivory Coast this week. The date of his return will be either Thursday or Friday," spokesman Dennis Onyango told AFP.
"He will first meet and brief Jean Ping, the chairman of the AU Commission, in Nairobi on Wednesday before setting off for the Ivory Coast," the spokesman added.

N\'Guessan said all mediation initiatives were welcome, despite the lack of any visible sign of progress from the efforts so far.
"We encourage all national and international initiatives aimed at finding a peaceful solution," he said.

PEOPLE FLEEING
On the other hand, spokesman for the for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Adrian Edwards said that about 600 Ivory Coast refugees are arriving daily in Liberia, bringing the number of those who have fled fears of violence to the neighboring country to 25,000.
"There are now some 25,000 Ivorian refugees in Liberia, with around 600 people arriving daily," said Adrian Edwards, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

He added that the UNHCR, which had originally set aside sufficient relief supplies for 30,000 refugees, is now "ready to mobilize stocks from Ghana for an additional 30,000 people if the need arises."
The UN agency has begun constructing a new camp that would be able initially to house 18,000 refugees in the eastern Liberian town of Bahn.

"The camp is urgently needed to better protect the refugees and to ease pressure on Liberian communities that have been hosting people in some 23 villages along the border with Cote d\'Ivoire," said Edwards.
The refugees, who have been pouring out of their country since the post-election crisis at the end of November, told officials that they were "fleeing fear of violence rather than actual violence against them," he noted.