Mobs attack French embassy

Pro-government mobs, enraged by an agreement that would end the four-month-old civil war in Ivory Coast, besieged the French embassy in Abidjan yesterday and destroyed a cultural centre.

The mobs, who accuse France of giving too much to rebels in peace talks near Paris, burned a fence around the embassy, attacked foreigners and looted shops and a radio station. French troops used tear gas to disperse a group trying to storm their military base in the city. The violence subsided later after the President, Laurent Gbagbo,begged his supporters to await his return from Paris.

"I came here for two things: to restore peace and to restore economic prosperity," he said. "There are two ways to end a conflict. Either you win the war [or accept compromise]. I did not win the war. If I had won the war there would not have been [peace talks].

At least three rebel groups have taken control of the north of Ivory Coast and most of the economically vital, cocoa-producing west since September after a failed coup attempt. They accuse Mr Gbagbo of exploiting ethnic rivalries and allowing the security forces to run riot since he won a disputed election victory in 2000.

Under the peace agreement brokered by the French government, Mr Gbagbo would surrender day-to-day control to a prime minister heading a coalition of government and rebel representatives.