U.N. fires on Ivory Coast Gbagbo bases

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Battle rages in Ivory Coast as U.N. fires on Gbagbo bases

By Mark and Ange Aboa Mark And Ange Aboa – 39 mins ago

ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Fighters backing Ivory Coast presidential claimant Alassane

Ouattara streamed into the main city Abidjan on Monday in what they called a

" final assault " to remove t Gbagbo from his stronghold.

Explosions and gunfire rang out from the direction of the Presidential Palace,

the state broadcaster RTI, and one of the two bridges connecting the lagoon-side

city to the airport, Reuters witnesses said.

U.N. and French attack helicopters also fired missiles at Gbagbo's military

bases, causing huge explosions that shook nearby homes and smashed windows,

witnesses said.

France said its troops were supporting the U.N. peacekeeping force at U.N.

request, targeting Gbagbo's heavy weapons stockpiles and armored vehicles

equipped with heavy guns and rocket launchers.

Several thousand pro-Ouattara fighters entered Abidjan from the north in a

convoy of transporters, pick-ups mounted with heavy machineguns, and 4x4s loaded

with fighters bearing Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers.

Their commanding officer, Issiaka " Wattao " Ouattara, told Reuters he had 4,000

men with him plus another 5,000 already in the city. Asked how long he would

need to take Abidjan, Wattao said: " We'll know when it starts, but it could take

48 hours to properly clear (the city). "

DISPUTED VOTE

Gbagbo has refused to cede power after an election last November that

U.N.-certified results showed Ouattara won. Gbagbo rejected the results and

accused the United Nations of bias. The standoff that followed has now turned

into a resumption of the civil war of 2002-03.

After swiftly taking control of most of the country, pro-Ouattara forces have

met fierce resistance in Abidjan, where Gbagbo's troops are holding on to

positions around the presidential palace, Gbagbo's residence and state

television.

After several days of fighting in Abidjan, nervous citizens who had been trapped

in their homes by the fighting ventured out early on Monday morning to get food

and water.

Hours later, pro-Ouattara troops secured a stretch of 5 km (3 miles) of deserted

motorway south of their entry point into Abidjan, heading past the pro-Gbagbo

neighborhood of Yopougon. Civilians walked on footpath bridges above the

motorway holding their hands in the air.

Speaking on Sunday on the pro-Ouattara TCI television channel, Ouattara's prime

minister Guillaume Soro said their strategy had been to encircle the city,

harass Gbagbo's troops and gather intelligence on their arsenal.

" The situation is now ripe for a lightning offensive, " he said.

France, the former colonial power, has about 12,000 nationals in Ivory Coast.

Its 1,500-strong garrison had already mounted patrols in Abidjan and taken

control of the airport.

On Monday, President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said it would join the United

Nations peacekeeping contingent in trying to neutralize heavy weapons belonging

to troops loyal to Gbagbo.

" The Secretary General of the United Nations requested the support of French

forces in these operations, " said the statement. France also said it would send

150 more soldiers from Gabon.

Separately, the French Foreign Ministry said two French nationals and several

other people had been abducted in Abidjan. France's Europe 1 radio reported five

people had been abducted in all, from a hotel in the city's business district.

HELICOPTERS

It had been expected that Ouattara's forces would quickly overrun Gbagbo's

troops after defections by senior officers, but they have managed to withstand

the assault so far, and regained control of the state broadcaster RTI.

In a boost to Ouattara's forces, U.N. and French helicopters fired at pro-Gbagbo

military camps late on Monday.

" We saw two UNOCI (U.N. mission in Ivory Coast) MI-24 helicopters fire missiles

on the Akouedo military camp, " one witness told Reuters. " There was a massive

explosion and we can still see the smoke. "

Other witnesses said blasts had smashed out windows at homes near the base and

residents were crying and screaming in the streets in apparent panic.

The top United Nations official in Ivory Coast had told the BBC earlier on

Monday that the mission was " planning action " after 11 peacekeepers were wounded

by pro-Gbagbo forces, and after civilians were killed by heavy weapons fire.

More than 1,500 people have been killed since the violence began five months ago

and human rights watchdogs have called on both sides to exercise restraint.

The ICRC said it stuck by an estimate of 800 killed in the western town of

Duekoue alone in intercommunal violence on one day last week, after Ouattara

forces had taken control of the town. Ouattara's camp says the toll is

" exaggerated. "

The yield on Ivory Coast's $2.3 billion 2032 bond, on which it defaulted at the

end of January, rose slightly on Monday. Cocoa prices, meanwhile, were mixed as

dealers waited to see if the assault by Ouattara forces would unseat Gbagbo and

pave the way for a resumption of exports.

(Additional reporting by Emmanuel Braun outside Abidjan, Tim Cocks, Ange Aboa,

and Loucoumane Coulibaly in Abidjan, Ed Cropley in Johannesburg, Sujata Rao and

Carolyn Cohn in London, Writing by Bate Felix and Valdmanis; Editing by

Giles Elgood)