French Embassy in Ivory Coast under Siege by President Backers

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More than 100 hardline supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo hurled stones and shouted anti-French slogans outside the French embassy in the Ivory Coast main city Abidjan. Anti-French violence was reported around the city, the latest escalation in tensions that have pummelled the one-time west African powerhouse in the 20 months since a failed coup attempt in September 2002 against Gbagbo erupted into civil war. Witnesses told AFP that youths clad in black t-shirts clustered in front of the embassy's main entrance, pelting the administrative buildings with stones and setting tires and wood stakes on fire. The protesters warned they would be back Tuesday in greater numbers, prompting an announcement from the neighboring US mission that it would close to avoid being targeted by violence. French schools said they, too, would shut their doors. Diplomatic sources suggested Monday's demonstration was a reaction to the handling of an overnight attack in Gohitafla, a farming village tucked into the confidence zone that has been patrolled since last year by French troops. A French military spokesman told AFP Monday that two French soldiers and several Ivorian troops suffered minor injuries during the attack on a military post in the center-west village by a gang of men calling themselves rebels. Gbagbo's most firebrand supporters accuse France of backing the rebels and consider a French-brokered peace pact to end the war to be a sellout to "terrorism" for bringing rebels into the very government they tried to overthrow. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan voiced concerns Monday at the deteriorating security conditions in Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, saying the country was at a "crossroads". "Political leaders, and in particular President Gbagbo as the head of state, have a personal responsibility to put an end to mutual recriminations and take concrete steps to resume a meaningful and effective political dialogue," the UN chief said. The French embassy's security staff lobbed teargas and blank firing grenades at the angry youth mob Monday to no avail, as the protest continued under the eyes of Ivorian authorities at a busy police station nearby. Two French nationals driving by the embassy were pelted with stones and chased down the road by angry youths. Others interrupted traffic on one of the bridges crossing Abidjan's lagoon in search of white motorists, more targets for their rocks and slurs. Thirty-one UN vehicles parked in a lot edging the lagoon were damaged in Monday's violence, their windows and tail-lights smashed by an armed gang. The vehicles are for use by the two month-old UN operation in Ivory Coast aimed at paving the way for elections set for October 2005. Some 4,000 French troops have been in Ivory Coast since last year helping to steer it back towards reconciliation. Many are stationed along the confidence zone dividing Ivory Coast between the rebel-held north and government-run south since the war. French Lieutenant Colonel Philippe de Cussac said French and Ivorian troops in Gohitafla responded "firmly" to the overnight attack, "taking many losses among their assailants." Several people were arrested but it was not immediately clear whether they belonged to the rebel movement. Rebel military leaders immediately and strongly denied their troops were involved in what they called an "unacceptable act of aggression," de Cussac added. Monday's aggressions came as Gbagbo departed for the United States on a private trip after announcing he would call early elections as soon as the rebels disarm. In a fiery speech Sunday night he vowed that upon his return, "we are going to take care of (the rebels)." **PHOTO CAPTION*** Demonstrators run away from tear gas launched by French gendarmes of the French embassy in Abidjan. (AFP)

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