French and Ivory Coast military commanders appealed for calm Monday in Abidjan, as government supporters, whipped into a frenzy by reports that French tanks were assembling near the home of President Laurent Gbagbo, gathered by the thousands to form a human shield around their leader’s neighborhood. French soldiers fired in the air to disperse the crowds, and helicopters hovered overhead, witnesses and news agency reports from Abidjan said. For much of the day, as state-run radio urged government supporters to protect the president from French action, angry mobs ran through the streets taking aim at French citizens and anyone else mistaken as French. France took pains to say it had no intention of deposing Mr. Gbagbo (pronounced BAG-bo). The spokesman for the French peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast, Col. Henri Aussavy, insisted that his troops had not surrounded the president’s residence. “We have absolutely no tanks in front of his residence,” he said by telephone from Abidjan.Full Story
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