Ivory Coast rejects 'death squad' claims

Up to 10,000 people marched in Abidjan

The Ivory Coast Government has denied that it is behind the killing of opposition sympathisers in loyalist held areas.

Justice Minister Desire Tagro Assegnini was responding to a report by the United Nations human rights agency, alleging that "death squads" operating in the country are made up of elements close to the government and the presidential guard.

Death squads in Ivory Coast are made up of elements close to the government, the presidential guard and a tribal militia from the Bete ethnic group of President Gbagbo

United Nations report

Last weekend a popular comedian and opposition supporters were killed in government-controlled Abidjan, sparking riots by opposition supporters.

On Thursday, the UN urged its non-essential staff to leave the country.

Diplomatic sources say this means the evacuation of 30 of the 110 staff but emergency workers at the United Nations Refugee Agency will remain.

A French-brokered peace deal appears to be on the verge of collapse. The three rebel groups are meeting to discuss their next steps, amid warnings of a return to outright warfare.

Supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo accuse France of forcing him to accept a power-sharing deal and have attacked French targets in Abidjan, prompting France to urge its 16,000 nationals to leave unless their presence is vital.

'Executed'

There have been numerous attacks on foreigners and Muslims, seen as being pro-rebel, since the Ivory Coast conflict began last September.

On Wednesday, the Deputy UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, released his reports into the killings.

"Death squads in Ivory Coast are made up of elements close to the government, the presidential guard and a tribal militia from the Bete ethnic group of President Gbagbo," he said.

It said the bodies of executed people had been found in a forest near Abidjan.

But Mr Assegnini accused the rebels of killing civilians in the areas they control. He promised an inquiry into the recent killing of the comedian and an imam.

Incensed

In the two weeks since signing the agreement in Paris, Mr Gbagbo has not explained the deal to his supporters and correspondents say he is in an extremely difficult position.

However his long-awaited speech to the nation is now scheduled for Friday at 2000 local time and GMT, according to his aide Toussaint Alain.

President Gbagbo has not yet addressed the nation

The rebels say they were promised the defence and interior ministries in the deal but this does not appear in the official text.

This claim has particularly incensed Mr Gbagbo's supporters and the army has refused to serve under a rebel minister.

Reuters news agency reports that a team from the main rebel group, the Ivory Coast Patriotic Movement (MPCI) has left its Bouake stronghold for the town of Man for discussions with the smaller Movement for Justice and Peace (MJP) and Ivorian Popular Movement for the Far West (MPIGO) groups.

"We want total victory and, for us, if Gbabgo doesn't respect the accord, total victory means going to Abidjan and taking power," senior MPCI official Guillaume Soro told several thousand locals and rebels in a football stadium, Reuters reports.