Gbagbo fights off attacks as pressure mounts to step down

Forces loyal to Ivory Coast's cornered strongman Laurent Gbagbo fought off an attack by his rival's army as fighting shook Abidjan Friday and world leaders piled pressure on him to resign.

Under immense foreign pressure and besieged by internationally recognised president Alassane Ouattara's forces in the economic capital, Gbagbo was nonethless clinging to power -- with his allies insisting he was relaxing at home with his wife.

The United States, France, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon and the African Union urged Gbagbo to step down immediately, citing concerns over citizens caught up in the country's bloody post-election conflict.

Troops loyal to Ouattara, who has been unable to take office since a November election, swept through the country this week, arriving in Abidjan on Thursday in what was said to be the final assault.

Fierce battles rocked Abidjan Thursday night and most of Friday, though shooting and explosions around the presidential palace and Gbagbo's private residence were abating by late afternoon, with only sporadic gunfire heard.

Armoured UN vehicles patrolled the business district during the afternoon and a UN helicopter circled the zone, AFP journalists witnessed.

Gbagbo's camp played down rumours he was preparing to flee, insisting they had beat back an Ouattara offensive.

"The offensive on the presidential palace was pushed back, the offensive on the radio station was pushed back," spokesman Ahoua Don Mello said, adding that an offensive against RTI state television had also failed.

"Finally, an attempt to seize the residence was a total failure," Don Mello said, referring to Gbagbo's home in the northern suburb of Cocody.

"He is at home, obviously, with his wife and the whole family. He is better accepted in Ivory Coast than elsewhere."

Ouattara's camp said it was convinced Gbago's fate had already been sealed.

"I don't think Laurent Gbagbo is capable of resisting for much longer with all the defections in his ranks... he is condemned to be removed," Ouattara's spokeswoman Anna Ouloto told AFP.

"Laurent Gbagbo must step down to avoid a bloodbath. Hopefully he will or we will go and fetch him," Ouattara's prime minister Guillaume Soro told AFP.

Gbagbo's army chief of staff, General Philippe Mangou, fled with his family on Wednesday to take refuge in the South African ambassador's residence.

The 10,000-strong UN mission in Ivory Coast (UNOCI) said Friday it was ready to facilitate Gbagbo's departure if he wished.

As fighting intensified around the presidential palace, a Swedish United Nations employee was shot and killed, "probably by a stray bullet", the Swedish foreign ministry said.

A teacher of French nationality was also shot dead in the capital Yamoussoukro, officials in Paris told AFP on Friday, without indicating whether the death was linked to the political conflict.

Several hundred people have been killed in the aftermath of the presidential election in November and the UN estimates a million people have fled Abidjan in recent weeks fearing a bloodbath.

After meeting little resistance in an offensive that saw them seize Yamoussoukro and the world's biggest cocoa exporting port of San Pedro, Ouattara's army set its eyes on Abidjan.

Ouattara's government on Thursday closed all land, sea and air borders to stop Gbagbo and his allies from fleeing the country, but on Friday announced flights would be allowed to leave in case embassies wanted to evacuate their citizens.

Around 500 foreigners had taken refuge at the headquarters of the French military force in Abidjan and as fear grew for civilians, France, which has 12,200 of its citizens in Ivory Coast, urged Gbagbo to quit power.

"France calls on Laurent Gbagbo, according to UN Security Council resolution 1975, to withdraw immediately, to cease from violence and give up power peacefully to President Alassane Ouattara," President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement.

The United States also urged Gbagbo to "step down immediately" and called on UN and French forces to take all possible steps to protect civilians.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon echoed the call saying "there has been two much blood shed" already in the conflict.

AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping urged Gbagbo to immediately hand over power to Ouattara, saying Gbagbo's refusal to accept international initiatives aimed at ending the crisis "have not made it possible to speedily complete the implementation of a peaceful solution."

Britain's Foreign Office also said it was "gravely concerned by the violence that continues to occur in Abidjan" and called "on all sides to exercise restraint."