Senegal's leader, Abdoulaye Wade, said on Friday Ivory Coast was "entering a phase of war"

Senegal's leader, Abdoulaye Wade, said on Friday Ivory Coast was "entering a phase of war" after the latest attempt by the African Union to resolve a power struggle by diplomacy failed.

Incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo rejected an AU proposal at a summit on Thursday offering him a safe exit in return for ceding power to rival Alassane Ouattara, winner of a disputed November poll according to U.N.-certified results.

Ouattara said on Friday he could not in any case have accepted the power-sharing pact because it would be illogical for him to form a unity government with Gbagbo allies still in control of the top cocoa grower.

"Ivory Coast is entering a phase of war," Wade, president of nearby Senegal, told French-language Africa news website Slateafrique.com.

"No one likes violence ... but in the case of Ivory Coast it is inevitable because it does not come from outside but from the internal situation," he said of the longstanding divide between the mainly Christian south where Gbagbo draws much of his support and the largely Muslim north which backs Ouattara.

Gbagbo's camp said on Thursday a repeat of a 2002-2003 civil war was possible, while rebels who control the north declared that force was the only way to remove Gbagbo from power.

Residents reported new gunfire in the Abidjan suburb of Abobo which has seen weeks of heavy fighting between insurgents backing Ouattara and security forces loyal to Gbagbo.

The conflict has sent cocoa futures near to 32-year highs

although they were down on Friday as commodities fell across the board on news of the huge Japanese earthquake.

Ouattara flew to Nigeria for talks with President Goodluck Jonathan, one of the firmest advocates of action to oust Gbagbo by force if necessary. Ouattara did not comment on the content of talks, saying only that he would stay there a few days.

HATE CAMPAIGN

Earlier, former IMF official Ouattara said there would have been no question of him entertaining the type of power-sharing agreement with Gbagbo allies proposed by an AU panel.

"You can't have people elected and say you have to share power," Ouattara told diplomats and heads of international organisations based in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

"How can I share with someone who has been in power for 10 years and whom Ivorians didn't vote for? It's illogical."

Around 400 people have been killed in post-election violence according to the United Nations, while some 450,000 Ivorians have fled their homes for fear of attacks. Around 90,000 have sought refuge in neighboring Liberia.

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