Ivory Coast general freed

Security has been tightened since the alleged coup plot

A high-profile general has been released from custody in Ivory Coast as tensions remain high between former rebels and President Laurent Gbagbo.

General Abdoulaye Coulibaly was set free in the commercial capital Abidjan due to a lack of evidence linking him to an alleged coup plot, the chief military prosecutor said.

In the French capital, Paris, the alleged leader of the plot, Ibrahim Coulibaly - no relation to General Coulibaly - was remanded in custody.

He denies charges of planning to assassinate Mr Gbagbo.

The discovery of the alleged coup plot has increased tensions between the former adversaries of last year's conflict which divided the world's major cocoa producer into two.

Ivory Coast is a state of law. We will not allow the law to be scorned under the pretext of this situation Ange Kessi Chief military prosecutor

Despite a peace deal which established a power-sharing government the country remains divided into a largely Muslim north under the control of the former MPCI rebels and the mainly Christian south in the hands of Mr Gbagbo's supporters.

Ten 2.5m-high iron gates have been erected across the main road which leads from the headquarters of the former rebel in Bouake to the commercial capital Abidjan in the south, the AP news agency reports.

The gates are bolted shut and guarded by armed rebels.

'Plot'

The authorities in Ivory Coast say they are still holding 18 people, including two generals, linked to the plot.

A senior government official said the police had documentary evidence to suggest that the arrested people intended to launch an attack on President Gbagbo as well as the head of the National Assembly, Mamadou Koulibaly, and the army chief, General Mathias Doue.

Chief military prosecutor Ange Kessi Ange Kessi told AFP news agency that the French and Ivorian authorities had worked together to foil the plan.

'Going home'

The former rebels say the alleged plot is a government ruse to crack down on them, while Mr Gbagbo's FPI party accuses the supposedly neutral Prime Minister Seydou Diarra of being behind it.

Security has been tightened since the arrests, with armoured vehicles are patrolling the streets and an increase in police identity checks.

On Sunday, thousands of people marched through General Coulibaly's northern home-town of Korhogo to demand the release of the number three in the military junta which seized power in 1999.

After Mr Kessi ordered his release, General Coulibaly said: "I haven't done anything, I'm going home."

It had been reported that up to 100 people, including members of the presidential guard, had been arrested in Abidjan after the alleged plot was uncovered.