Ivory Coast in chaos as angry mobs reject French deal

Ivory Coast's capital, Abidjan, was overwhelmed by a second day of anti-French rioting yesterday, dissolving hopes of a peaceful and rapid conclusion to four months of civil conflict.

Pro-government mobs, who accuse France of "humiliating" the West African country by brokering a peace agreement too kind to rebel forces, blocked streets, wielded machetes and dragged foreigners from their cars.

Laurent Gbagbo, the President, appealed to his supporters to leave but failed to deliver a promised television address embracing the power-sharing agreement negotiated with rebel leaders in France last week. The French government, having supported Mr Gbagbo and then pushed him to the negotiating table, now finds itself uncertain whether he an ally or enemy.

Dominique de Villepin, the French Foreign Minister, came close to accusing the president on Sunday night of playing a double game – accepting peace terms in Paris while ordering his unruly supporters onto the streets of Abidjan.

With 16,000 French residents barricaded in their homes and 2,500 French soldiers under attack from supporters of a government they were deployed to defend, Paris faces the prospect of being drawn into all-out civil war.

Ivorian armed forces and paramilitary police have made little attempt to control the rioters, who attacked the French embassy on Sunday, sacked a French cultural centre and two schools and burned the Burkina Faso embassy. M. de Villepin blamed the riots on a "handful of extremists close to the government".

The rioters and security forces object violently to the deal for power sharing with disparate rebel forces, which have conquered most of the north and west of the country since a failed coup in September. They have been incensed by a proposal that would place the pro-government army and paramilitary police under the control of rebel-appointed ministers. "Ivory Coast humiliated in Paris" was the front-page headline yesterday in Notre Voie, a newspaper run by Mr Gbagbo's ruling party.

Gangs of youths rampaged through Abidjan yesterday, chanting: "France for the French, Ivory Coast for the Ivorians. Everyone go home. We are xenophobes and so what." They pulled people from their cars and roughed them up, apparently looking for French residents or citizens of neighbouring countries accused by President Gbagbo of fomenting the civil war.

There were no reports of deaths or serious injuries.

Mobs also returned to the French embassy and the French army base near the airport, throwing stones and burning tyres. French troops fired tear gas and stun grenades to drive them away.

Mr Gbagbo, 57, left Paris in a French military aircraft on Sunday afternoon promising to restore order and to give an address explaining why he accepted the peace agreement. But he made only a brief television appearance yesterday, in which he appealed for calm. "My role is to be with the people when things are not going well ... I am here. I am at the helm," he said.

State-controlled media said he intended to consult with youth movements, women and political parties before making his address. Diplomats feared this might be a prelude to a rejection by Mr Gbagbo of the peace deal, which was ratified at the weekend by other West African countries, Thabo Mbeki, the South African President, and Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general.

The reference to consultations with "women" is regarded by diplomats with extra alarm. It is seen as a possible code for Mr Gbagbo's second wife, Simone, who is seen by many as the intransigent power behind his throne.

President Gbagbo came to power in disputed elections in October 2000. He is accused by opponents of stirring up ethnic, religious and tribal hatred.

One in four of the 14 million people in Ivory Coast has foreign roots. Many have been there for decades. Others have been attracted recently by the economic boom. Mr Gbagbo is accused of exploiting the concept of "Ivoiricité" –priority for ethnic Ivorians – to inspire attacks on ethnic minorities. The Paris peace deal provides for the naturalisation of all long-term foreign residents.