Backers of Ivory Coast Leader Rally Against Rumor of Coup

Thousands of pro-government demonstrators flocked to Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo’s home Monday to serve as a shield in the wake of allegations that French peacekeeping troops were planning to oust him.

French forces took control of the airport and major points within the main city of Abidjan during the weekend after attacks on French civilians and peacekeepers left nine of the peacekeepers dead and more than 400 people injured.

On Monday, peacekeepers fired over the heads of demonstrators who had gathered outside the president’s home after hearing government supporters warn of a possible French-sponsored coup. The French military denied any plans to seize power from Gbagbo, saying it had only secured a position at the Hotel Ivoire, not far from the presidential residence, and was trying to disperse the crowd.

Gbagbo, speaking on national television, appealed for calm.

“I implore, I implore the population to stay calm,” he said. “And I ask all demonstrators to go back to their homes. You must not give in to provocation.”

But the president’s pleas contrasted with his supporters’ more incendiary rhetoric, broadcast repeatedly on state television, calling pro-government demonstrators into the streets.

It is not known how many people have died in rioting that has struck Abidjan and other cities since Saturday, as mobs of hard-line government supporters surged through the streets destroying French businesses and property.

Those groups resent the French, the former colonial power, for their role in pressing for a peace deal between Gbagbo and rebels who took control of the northern part of the nation after a civil war that began in late 2002.

French, United Nations and Ivory Coast commanders met Monday and promised to cooperate to restore law and order. French and Ivorian military leaders made a joint appearance on state television to appeal for an end to the mob violence.

Anti-French riots flared after the French destroyed most of Ivory Coast’s small air force Saturday. The French acted in retaliation for a government strike against a French peacekeeping position near Bouake, a rebel stronghold in the north where the nine peacekeepers and one U.S. aid worker were killed and 38 peacekeepers were wounded.

The country has been divided between rebel territory in the north and government-controlled areas in the south with 10,000 U.N. peacekeepers, including 4,000 French, occupying a buffer zone between them.

A power-sharing government has collapsed, and the government broke a cease-fire of more than a year on Thursday, attacking rebel positions and crossing the buffer zone. Ivorian authorities described it as an attempt to “reunify” the country, but the international community has condemned the attacks.

Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, used to be one of the richest and most stable countries in West Africa.

But the nation slid into civil war and chaos in the late 1990s. The 2003 cease-fire was signed under pressure from the French, but the sides failed to disarm.

“Everything should go back to normal. It is absolutely not a matter of ousting President Laurent Gbagbo,” French commander Gen. Henri Poncet said on state TV on Monday after the meeting between French, U.N. and Ivory Coast commanders.

Gen. Mathias Doue, the Ivorian chief of army staff, also called for calm.

“We flirted with catastrophe. We are calling on all for calm and asking for everything to be done as soon as possible so normal life can resume,” he said.