Abidjan, Ivory Coast
A machete-waving mob laid siege to France’s main military base in Ivory Coast this week, demanding that French peacekeepers leave so that government forces can crush the rebels. France shipped some 4,000 troops to its former colony in July to police a cease-fire in the country’s nine-month civil war. But a power-sharing deal between the government and the rebels has fallen apart, and pro-government demonstrators want to end the cease-fire. “I can understand why they are fed up,” President Laurent Gbagbo said of his supporters. “The French are between them and the rebels, and they want to finish the war.” Still, Gbagbo said, he invited the peacekeepers, and wants them to stay.
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