Profile: Laurent Gbagbo

Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is looking increasingly isolated, as international pressure grows on him to do more to end instability.

His supporters, however, insist that he stands up against "foreign interference" and remains true to the nationalist credentials he has trumpeted since coming to power in 2000.

President's Gbagbo is under pressure from the international community

In October 2005, the United Nations approved the extension of Mr Gbagbo's mandate for one year.

But the UN also made the president's work much more difficult.

Mr Gbagbo has to work with new Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, who has a mind of his own - and a strong mind at that, some say.

The UN also gave the prime minister extensive powers to organise elections and ensure national security, leaving little room for Mr Gbagbo.

Some say the only cards Mr Gbagbo still has are his own political clout and years of experience at manoeuvring Ivory Coast's political scene.

Worse still for the president's camp, in January 2006, the international working group in charge of monitoring Ivory Coast's transition to democracy recommended the dissolution of the mainly pro-Gbagbo parliament.

For President Gbagbo's supporters, that may have been the last straw.

For them, the international community - and the UN - have failed to disarm the rebels and have now openly taken side against the president.

"The Young Patriots" - a pro-Gbagbo radical group - took to the streets of Abidjan and angrily protested against the UN.

A passion for history

Mr Gbagbo spent 20 years in opposition before coming to power in 2000, when military leader Robert Guei's attempts to rig elections were defeated.

He started out on the political left but since the 1980s he has taken a strongly nationalist stance.

LAURENT GBAGBO 1971: Jailed for "subversive teaching" 1982: Exile in Paris after union activism 1988: Returns to Ivory Coast 1990: Defeated in elections 1992: Jailed after student protests 2000: Declared winner of disputed elections 2002: Failed coup divides Ivory Coast

He was accused of surfing on the wave of xenophobia which has been sweeping Ivory Coast ever since the concept of "Ivoirite" - "Ivorianness" - was introduced by President Henri Konan Bedie to prevent a Muslim from the north, Alassane Ouattara, from contesting the presidency.

But he denied the allegations of opportunism. "I have not changed, he said at the time. "You must change your glasses."

Since the 2002 rebellion broke out, Mr Gbagbo's supporters have been accused of carrying out xenophobic attacks in the areas they control - against those from the mainly Muslim north, immigrants from neighbouring African countries and westerners.

They accuse former colonial power France and the international community of not doing enough to put down the rebellion.

Laurent Gbagbo was born in a Catholic family near Gagnoa, in the centre-west of the country, nearly 60 years ago.

"Cicero", as he was nicknamed because of his taste for Latin during his schooldays, has a PhD in history.

Beginning his career as a university lecturer, Mr Gbagbo was jailed for two years in 1971 for "subversive" teaching. His nom de guerre was "little brother".

French property has been targeted by protesters

In the 1980s he was involved in trade union activity among academics.

He was one of the first to challenge Ivory Coast's founding President Felix Houphouet Boigny in the 1980s, as soon as the long-serving independence leader permitted multi-party politics.

In 1982 he sought exile in Paris, returning six years later to attend the founding congress of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI).

His time as an opposition leader led to spells in jail and brushes with the authorities.

After his election in 2000, he broke with the personality cult tradition, saying it was no longer necessary to put up portraits of the president in public places and offices.

Gourmet

He also said that the national media would no longer be obliged to mention the president in all news programmes. But today, most news broadcasts highlight Mr Gbagbo's daily activities.

Laurent Gbagbo has a reputation for being short-tempered, in particular against "arrogant" journalists, but he is also known for his contagious laughs and vigorous handshakes.

He is said to have a passion for music, guitar and good food.

"It is a pleasure to have him round for dinner," one of his friends was quoted as saying in Jeune Afrique-L'Intelligent magazine.

Many in Ivory Coast hope that Laurent Gbagbo, as a man who showed perseverance and courage throughout his long career as an opposition leader, will find a way out of the current crisis.

His critics fear that stirring up trouble on the streets is the only way he can think of to keep a grip on the power he spent so long struggling to obtain.