Ivory Coast leader orders U.N. peacekeepers out

The move was the latest act of political defiance by Gbagbo, who has been in power since 2000 and maintains he is the rightful winner of last month's runoff vote in the West African nation despite growing international pressure on him to concede defeat.

The statement read on state television came just two days after as many as 30 people were killed in street violence in Ivory Coast. Earlier Saturday, masked gunmen opened fire on the U.N. base; no one from the United Nations was harmed in the attack.

Gbagbo's spokeswoman said Saturday that the U.N. mission known as UNOCI has not remained neutral in the election dispute and accused it of arming the New Forces rebels allied with opposition leader Alassane Ouattara.

The United Nations certified results showing that Ouattara had won by "an irrefutable margin." The United Nations had been invited by the country itself to supervise the vote and certify the outcome following a peace accord after Ivory Coast's 2002-03 civil war.

"The state of Ivory Coast considers that the UNOCI has shown itself to be guilty of serious misconduct, which indubitably proves that it is an agent of destabilization and contributes to the further division of the Ivorian people," the spokeswoman said.

Nick Birnback, spokesman for the U.N. Peacekeeping Department, stressed that "the mission will continue to do everything possible to execute its Security Council-given mandate." That mandate includes protecting civilians under imminent threat, U.N. staff and facilities.

There are about 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers in the country, and about 800 of them have been protecting the compound from which Ouattara is trying to govern the country.

Gbagbo also called for the departure of about 900 French forces who have been supporting the U.N. peacekeepers.

While the United States, France and the African Union have endorsed Ouattara as the rightful winner of the election, Gbagbo maintains control of both the military and state media.

This article appeared on page A - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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