Ivory Coast troops move to oust rebels

THE thud of heavy arms fire shook Ivory Coast's second city yesterday as government troops fought to reclaim the rebel-held north after efforts to restore peace in the once-stable West African country collapsed.

"There is firing from all sides", said one terrified woman reached by telephone in the rebel-held city of Bouake. "The house is shaking".

In the capital Yamoussoukro, 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Bouake, hundreds of young pro-government supporters, some with faces painted white and leaves in their hair like traditional warriors, staged an march, shouting they were ready to "free Bouake." Radical youth groups organised the demonstration. They travelled to Yamoussoukro in about 10 buses from the commercial capital Abidjan early yesterday and were joined by about 1,000 locals. The youths, who call themselves "young patriots", threatened to march today on Bouake. Government troops gathered reinforcements and supplies for their assault, which authorities said would end only when the rebels are beaten. In Yamoussoukro, loyalist troops unloaded boxes of ammunition, including mortar shells and machine-gun rounds, from airplanes, loaded them onto pick-up trucks and sped off.