February 4, 2003	Tuesday	Zul Hijjah 2,1423

ABIDJAN, Feb 3: Thousands of women on Monday ringed the French embassy in Abidjan in a raucous but peaceful protest against a Paris-brokered peace deal to end a ruinous four-month war in Ivory Coast.

Flag-waving women supporters of embattled President Laurent Gbagbo shouted slogans against France, the west African country’s former colonial ruler, and French President Jacques Chirac.

Cries of “Chirac is a thief,” “We want Gbagbo,” and “We are xenophobes and so what?” rent the air as many of the demonstrators appealed to the United States for help to scrap the accord, which gives rebels, who in September launched the conflict in the world’s leading cocoa producer, the defence and interior ministries in a unity government.

They cried “USA, USA, USA” and tried to gather in front the nearby US embassy but were pushed back by police.

Supporters of Gbagbo have recently professed a new love for Washington and appealed for US intervention on the ground that the pact promotes “terrorism” by giving rebels top government posts.

Some of the women had their faces streaked with traditional white war paint.

The placards they carried bore diverse messages: “USA you must help us,” “The accords are a shortcut, it will not bring peace” and “France stop meddling.”

Monday’s demonstration was in stark contrast to a wave of anti-French violence and anger that gripped Ivory Coast last week with attacks on the embassy and other French symbols. The arson and looting that marked those protests prompted France to advise its nationals to leave.—AFP