French soldiers leave Abidjan airport which was stormed by angry citizens

ABIDJAN, January 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - France on Friday, January 31, urged its nationals to leave war-torn Ivory Coast after hundreds of stone-throwing youths stormed the main airport in a latest protest against a peace deal brokered by Paris to end a four-month war in its former colony.

The attack triggered joint action by French and Ivorian military troops, who deployed across Abidjan airport to protect hundreds of expatriates being evacuated and other passengers, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

A French soldier sustained serious facial injuries during a joint military operation to clear the runway, which was overrun by the mob.

Paris immediately recommended that all nationals whose presence was not deemed essential should leave its former colony, after a week of anti-French riots and anger over the pact.

Foes of the deal charge that it humiliates President Laurent Gbagbo by diminishing his powers and giving rebels the key defense and interior ministries.

The Ivorian military and most political parties have notified the head of state they will not accept the rebels in the government.

After the runway was cleared, several hundred Young Patriots, from a hardline movement that backs Gbagbo, milled outside the terminal building for hours before finally leaving.

The Young Patriots are due Saturday, February 1, to hold a massive march in Abidjan, culminating in the downtown Plateau quarter where the president's office is located, sparking fears of renewed violence and looting.

The group has run riot across Abidjan, and especially the Plateau area, since last weekend's accord, besieging the French embassy and attacking symbols of France including the Air France office, the cultural institute and several businesses.

Inside the airport, some 1,500 French and other nationals were waiting to leave Ivory Coast.

The first plane belonging to French carrier Air Liberte finally took off around noon and was followed by several chartered planes.

Defense Minister Bertin Kadet arrived at the airport to calm the protestors, who burnt the French flag and hurled insults at French President Jacques Chirac.

Bertin said the French troops had acted in haste and stressed the Ivorian security forces at the airport could have tackled the protests, which he dismissed as "incidents".

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said he was in contact with Gbagbo, whom he held "responsible for the security of French nationals and other foreigners currently in Ivory Coast."

French junior Foreign Minister Renaud Muselier added: "We know both the extremist camps want the accord to fail," referring to hardliners in the government and rebels holding more than half the world's top cocoa producer for four months.

The demonstrators also vented their wrath against Seydou Diarra, the country's new premier-designate, appointed under the French-brokered peace deal to head the unity government.

Diarra and Pascal Affi N'Guessan, the outgoing prime minister, were Friday in the Senegalese capital Dakar along with Ivorian rebels to attend a meeting of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc.

In the central city of Bouake, a spokesman for the main rebel Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast, Sergeant Cherif Ousmane, said trouble at the airport by "Gbagbo's men" had prevented a French plane from heading to Dakar to fetch an MPCI delegation.

These delegates would now return to Bouake on Saturday, Ousmane said.

Other sources said the MPCI had stayed in Dakar because of the talks with African leaders there.

Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, whose country holds the rotating presidency of ECOWAS, said: "We will do our best to arrive at a consensus that does not hamper the accord" reached in France.

The French-sponsored deal stipulates that President Gbagbo stay in office, hand over some of his power and agree to constitutional changes.

It also states that all the political parties and the rebels will take part in a new national reconciliation government, where a new "non-partisan" prime minister will take on most of the government's powers.

The peace plan also urges the creation of an international surveillance committee to ensure the accord is respected and demands the rebel groups give up their arms in order to make peace prevail in the country, once a haven of stability in West Africa.

The deal, in addition, offers amnesty for insurgents and promises the formation of a new army - comprising loyalists and rebels - with the help of the French.