(22 Feb 2010) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of police holding guns
2. Mid of burning tyres
3. Wide of protesters watching burning tyres
4. Close up of demonstrators shouting (French) "We don''t care"
5. Mid of demonstrators throwing stones and shouting
6. Wide of police, smoke in background
7. Various of burning tables and tyres
8. Dead body on ground covered by blanket, man reveals face of dead person
8. Wide of police van
9. Close of policeman''s hand holding gun
10. Crowd walking away
STORYLINE
At least two protesters died on Monday during an opposition demonstration that turned violent in Ivory Coast, witnesses said, deepening the crisis sparked by the president''s dissolution of the government earlier this month.
The protests came after top opposition leaders refused to join a new coalition government, effectively stopping the formation of the government that had been expected to be announced Monday.
The political dispute sparked protests in at least five cities across the country on Monday.
During a protest in the northern Abobo district of Abidjan, an Associated Press Television News journalist said he saw two dead bodies being guarded by police.
A local pastor also said he watched police severely beat several protesters.
A witness said hundreds of young men started gathering early on Monday morning, building barricades, cutting off all traffic and burning tyres.
They hurled stones at approaching cars before riot police used tear gas and fired into the air to disperse the crowds.
An opposition supporter said the police followed demonstrators to their houses and took them away.
The West African nation has been divided between a rebel-controlled north and a government-controlled south since war broke out in 2002.
The sides formed a unity government in 2007 and were preparing for presidential elections when President Laurent Gbagbo dissolved the government on February 12.
Presidential elections have been postponed every year since 2005, when Gbagbo''s term ended.
Opposition protests also took place in at least four other cities across the country on Monday.
Mediator Blaise Compaore, Burkina Faso''s president, also arrived in Abidjan on Monday to start a series of crisis negotiations with the presidential camp and the opposition.
Opposition leaders invited Compaore to mediate an exit to the political crisis after they refused to participate in a new government with Gbagbo.
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