PARIS, Nov 7 (AFP) - With the addition of a further 660 men, French military commanders in the Ivory Coast Sunday had some 5,300 troops at their disposal as the country veered deeper into chaos.
These included the 4,000-member Unicorn force, which is supporting a UN peacekeeping effort, but remains under French command. The 6,000 UN troops from Bangladesh, Benin, Ghana, Morocco, Togo and Senegal are manning a buffer zone separating government forces and rebel New Forces in the north of the country.
In the financial capital, Abidjan, French interests were being protected by 600 men at the base of the 43rd marine infantry batallion near the international airport, which French troops closed to civilian flights Saturday and placed under their control.
As the French contingent prevented tens of thousands of demonstrators from marching on the airport Saturday, President Jacques Chirac ordered two army companies totalling 300 men to fly from Gabon to ensure the safety of French nationals in the country. The troops had started arriving Sunday in Abidjan.
France also scrambled three Mirage fighter jets from Chad to Libreville in Gabon on Saturday amid the escalating violence in Ivory Coast.
About 100 foreigners sought refuge at the marine infantry base Sunday fleeing mob violence and looting, but there were no immediate plans for evacuation of about 14,000 French passport holders, according to Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie.
The defense ministry Sunday announced it would fly out a further 300 troops from France, accompanied by a 60-man contingent of gendarmerie police.
France first deployed troops in the Ivory Coast in September 2002 to protect its nationals as rebellion flared against the government of President Laurent Gbagbo. Since then, 12 French soldiers have been killed, including nine who died in an aerial attack by Ivorian government jets on Saturday.
Later France deployed the Unicorn force to be a rapid-reaction unit in support of the UN. Its mission is to separate the warring factions, supervize a ceasefire and assist in the country's failed process of reconciliation and disarmament.
The rebels were granted ministerial positions in a unity government under the terms of a peace agreement reached at Marcoussis in France in January last year, but that deal has never been accepted by followers of Gbagbo. Ethnically-charged issues at the heart of the rebellion remain unresolved.
11/07/2004 14:25 GMT - AFP