Four die as protesters storm UN base

FOUR pro-government protesters were killed in western Ivory Coast yesterday when UN peacekeepers opened fire to repel an attack on their base in a third day of anti-UN riots.

The deaths were the first reported in violent protests by supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo who are demanding that UN and French peacekeepers withdraw from the West African country, which was divided in two by a 2002 civil war.

Government supporters began the protests this week to oppose a call by foreign mediators to end the mandate of the national parliament dominated by Gbagbo loyalists. UN bases and vehicles have been attacked.