JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: The political situation in the Ivory Coast remains volatile following a popular revolt that appears to have ousted the West African nation's military ruler, General Robert Guei, whose whereabouts remain unclear. U.S. National Public Radio's Kenneth Walker is in Abidjan.</s>KENNETH WALKER, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO REPORTER (voice-over): It was the most tumultuous 24 hours in the history of Ivory Coast. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest the nullification of Sunday's presidential election and to drive from office a military junta that seized power last Christmas Eve. At first, troops fired into the air. But later, as growing numbers of protesters erected barricades on every corner and set bonfires in the streets, soldiers began responding to rocks and bottles with live fire directly into the crowds. Scores of people were injured and several apparently killed, one day after the deaths of nine protesters. At the height of the violence, General Guei, the head of the junta who proclaimed himself the winner of an election most observers felt he'd lost badly, was lifted from the presidential palace in a helicopter headed for the airport. Almost immediately troops began joining protesters in the streets. Soon after Guei's helicopter took flight, opposition candidate Laurent Gbagdo, the presumed winner of the election, went on state television to announce he was assuming power. As word spread, protesters danced and sang in jubilation. Whether Gbagdo can achieve the tranquillity and reconciliation he promised remains to be seen. Opposition parties excluded from the election are already demanding new elections. Kenneth Walker, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Popular Revolt Ousts Junta in Ivory Coast