ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Ivory Coast security forces fired tear gas at surging crowds of thousands outside a French military base, Business Day reported Saturday.
The demonstrations, which began Wednesday, seek France's departure from Ivory Coast.
Defying a government prohibition, several thousand
pro-government Ivorians summoned by influential pro-government youth leader Ble Goude poured into streets around the main French base.
Protesters hurled rocks at a cordon of about 50 Ivorian security forces in riot helmets, who responded with tear gas grenades, scattering demonstrators.
French troops guarding the base retreated behind barbed wire, and French schools were closed in Abidjan, Friday, as a precaution.
Demonstrations have frequently led to violence over the past four years of turmoil in the country.
Many fear the violent protests, fueled by pro-government militias who want President Laurent Gbagbo to take back the rebel-held north, will lead to renewed war in what was once west Africa's most prosperous and stable nation.
France has 4,000 troops in its former French colony working with about 1,200 west African peacekeepers to enforce a January peace deal and power-sharing government that brought top rebel officials into Gbagbo's administration.
