Abidjan — The military leader of Cote d'Ivoire General Robert Guei has fled the country less than 24 hours after he proclaimed himself president and dismissed the National Electoral Commission (CNE) on Tuesday.

Later reports said Guei and his family had been flown to nearby Cotonou in Benin.

Laurent Gbagbo, the veteran socialist politician and leader of of the Ivorian Popular Front or FPI, has made an announcement on national radio reinstating the CNE and saying it will shortly announce the legitimate results of Sunday's poll.

Gbagbo thanked the Ivorian people for spontaneously and overwhelmingly responding to his appeal for them to come out and protest against General Guei's hijack of the election.

He paid homage to those who had been killed in clashes with soldiers since Tuesday, calling them national heroes who would receive fitting funerals. He also paid homage to the injured and thanked army units and the gendarmerie for taking his and the peoples side.

He assured the international community that Cote d'Ivoire would return to democratic rule.

Thousands of youths took to the streets of Abidjan early Wednesday to protest against Guei, whose loyal soldiers fired shots and tear gas into the air to disperse the demonstrators.

By late morning the commander of the Presidential bodyguard, Lieutenant Boka Yapi had ordered his troops off the streets, telling them to return to their barracks.