FRANCE: A crowd of protesters marred the start of a visit by the French Foreign Minister, Mr Dominique de Villepin, to Ivory Coast, aimed at restoring peace in the former French colony. They jeered the Minister and blockaded him and his entourage inside President Laurent Gbagbo's residence.
About 100 demonstrators jeered his convoy outside the presidential palace, a high-security area that is off-limits to ordinary citizens, hurling insults and spitting at the passing cars.
The group of mainly women and youths waved a banner reading: "Ivory Coast is the victim of an external aggression" and shouted slogans such as: "We only want Gbagbo".
A rumour that Mr de Villepin had come to demand Mr Gbagbo's resignation had apparently inspired the protest.
Fifteen minutes after the start of the protest, security forces had not reacted, journalists and diplomats on the scene said.
But Mr Gbagbo himself intervened eventually, persuading the protesters to lift their blockade and allow Mr de Villepin to leave the residence.