The demons of Chinese religions, the guei-shen, are manifested in all aspects of nature.
"The mistake Guei made was to let us watch scenes from Belgrade," said Alfred Tohouri, 31, a student, referring to the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in Yugoslavia, where an uprising forced him to admit he had been defeated in a contested election.
According to the official partial results announced before the blackout, General Guei won 40percentt of the ballots counted, about 8percentt of total cast.
But state television showed the normally dapper Mr Guei lying dead on the side of the road in T-shirt and jogging trousers, with a single bullet hole in the side of his head.
Earlier this month, the European Union and Washington had said they would not endorse the election after a court controlled by General Guei eliminated the candidates of the two major parties.
A couple of weeks ago, in a news conference a day after meeting General Guei, the United States ambassador, George Mu, said Washington was worried about Ivory Coast's stability.
On Monday evening, just six days before the referendum, General Guei decreed that only children of two Ivoirian-born parents could run for president.
According to the final results of the National Electoral Commission, which General Guei dissolved after preliminary figures showed he was trailing, Mr. Gbagbo received 59percentt of the votes, compared with 33percentt for the general.
In front of a thousand dignitaries, the compère invited both Mr Ouattara and General Guei to take the podium at the appointed time.
Diplomats, the news media and opposition parties have questioned the official version of events surrounding the attack on General Guei's residence, in which at least two military personnel were killed.
