Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo bans UN and French flights

The government of disputed President Laurent Gbagbo has banned UN and French peacekeeping aircraft from flying over, or landing in Ivory Coast.

The announcement came as Alassane Ouattara, recognised by the UN as the winner of November's poll, went to Ethiopia for a meeting on the crisis.

It is the first time he has left an Abidjan hotel since the poll results were declared in December.

Mr Gbagbo has refused to attend the African Union gathering.

A team of five African heads of state has been considering how to resolve the political impasse amid warnings the country is sliding back into civil war.

Last year's long-delayed elections had been supposed to reunify the country - once the richest in West Africa - which has been divided since a 2002 civil war.