20110409
reuters

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, besieged in Ivory Coast's main city, have retaken ground and are edging closer to where rival presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara is holed up, the United Nations said.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy told reporters on Friday that Gbagbo forces had used a lull in fighting for peace talks as a ruse to reinforce their positions.

"We understand that since that time, the forces of Mr. Gbagbo ... have regained terrain and they have full control of the Plateau and Cocody area," Le Roy said, referring to districts of the commercial capital Abidjan where his residence and diplomats' homes are located.

Abidjan was a ghost town on Saturday morning. A Reuters witness in the northern district of Gesco said the few people in the streets were seeking food and water or trying to escape before fighting resumed.

France, the former colonial power in Ivory Coast, said Gbagbo's forces had fired at the residence of the French ambassador late on Friday, and that French helicopters later fired on Gbagbo forces during a failed evacuation mission.

"The French (ambassador's) residence was attacked yesterday afternoon with two mortar shots and one rocket shot that clearly came from pro-Gbagbo forces," said French armed forces spokesman Thierry Burkhard.

"Later in the night ... Licorne (French) forces launched an operation at the request of an ally government to help a diplomatic mission. Under fire from pro-Gbagbo forces, Licorne riposted, destroying at least one armoured vehicle in the embassy belt," said Burkhard.

Gbagbo, who has refused to cede power to Ouattara despite U.N.-certified results showing he lost a November election, remains isolated in the bunker under his residence where he has sought refuge from a concerted assault by Ouattara's troops.