20110125
reuters

PARIS (Reuters) - Supporters of Ivory Coast's Alassane Ouattara had to break through the main gates of the country's embassy in Paris on Tuesday into order to install the presidential claimant's choice as ambassador to France.

Ouattara is locked in a power struggle with Laurent Gbagbo, after being declared winner of a November 28 election by United Nations-certified results before they were overturned by a pro-Gbagbo legal body, which alleged fraud.

About 50 Ouattara supporters cheered outside the embassy in western Paris as Ally Coulibaly entered the building, which had been vacated by Gbagbo's staff at the end of December.

French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said at the time France would accredit a new ambassador at the request of Ouattara's government, which it recognises as the winner of the contested election.

"We were forced to break through the entrance, but I am here and happy to exercise the functions I was mandated to do by President Ouattara," Coulibaly told Reuters TV.