Obama says appalled by violence in Ivory Coast

WASHINGTON, March 9 | Wed Mar 9, 2011 6:02pm EST

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he was appalled by the "indiscriminate killing" of unarmed civilians in Ivory Coast and said it was time for Laurent Gbagbo to step down from the presidency.

"Former President Gbagbo's efforts to hold on to power at the expense of his own country are an assault on the universal rights of his people, and the democracy that the Cote d'Ivoire deserves," Obama said in a statement.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Alister Bull, Editing by Sandra Maler)

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