French troops meet Ivorian rebels

The French army has been sending reinforcements

French military officials have met rebels in the west of Ivory Coast after three clashes over the weekend.

A spokesman for the Ivorian People's Movement for the Far West (MPIGO) apologised for the latest attack on a French position outside the strategic town of Duekoue saying it was an unfortunate error.

At the meeting, the rebels blamed the clashes on a lack of communication.

MPIGO guerrillas first clashed with French troops near Duekoue on 21 December - there were further exchanges of fire on Friday and Saturday.

The almost 2,500-strong French contingent are in the country to monitor a truce agreed with the main rebel group in Ivory Coast, the Ivory Coast Patriotic Movement (MPCI), which holds the largely Muslim north of the country.

But peace talks with them have made little progress and the October truce was then shattered when two new rebel factions emerged in the west who are not bound by the ceasfire.

Correspondents say the French forces have become increasingly embroiled in the conflict.

Rebels have accused French troops of siding with the government. The French say they are protecting their own nationals.

The French are now strengthening their positions in the west.

Mass graves

Meanwhile, United Nations human rights investigators have accused all sides of committing atrocities during the three-month-old civil war.

The MPCI is observing the truce

The team was sent by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan because claims of human rights abuses in the country are mounting and mass graves have been found.

They met President Laurent Gbagbo and the rebels, human rights groups and other organisations - they heard reports of systematic abuse in government-held areas and summary executions by the rebels.

They were taken to the site of a mass grave in the MPCI stronghold, Bouake, and said they hoped to return to the sites of graves in the future to investigate properly.

The team, led by the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan, has now left to prepare their report to Mr Annan.