ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, April 7 (UPI) -- Diplomats from several countries have asked to be removed from their embassies caught in the violence gripping Ivory Coast over who will lead the country.
Japanese diplomat Yoshifumi Okamura and several staffers were forced to a safe room in the Japanese Embassy as violence in Abidjan, the commercial capital, spread to the ambassador's residence near the compound of Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to cede power to Alassane Ouattara for months, The New York Times reported.
French troops rescued the ambassador and his staff, exchanging heavy machine gun fire with unidentified armored forces, a French military official said.
Other governments, including those of India and Israel, have requested French and U.N. assistance to protect or rescue their diplomats in Abidjan, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Thursday.
Officials from the Gbagbo and Ouattara camps said troops loyal to Ouattara stormed Gbagbo's home Wednesday, hoping to take Gbagbo alive for possible trial after he refused demands to step down, the Times said.
The assault on his residence was "to seize Gbagbo physically and, if he is alive, to bring him to justice," said Apollinaire Yapi, a spokesman for Ouattara.
Officials for International Committee of the Red Cross said the humanitarian situation was worsening, adding that an ICRC-chartered aircraft landed Wednesday in Man, in the northern Ivory Coast, with nearly 12 tons of supplies for people affected by the fighting.
"We could hear it all night," said Kelnor Panglungtshang, an ICRC spokesman. "There were small gunfire and even what sounded like rocket-propelled grenades coming from the residence. It is clear that the area is far from being secure."
Ivory Coast has been in a bloody, violent power struggle between Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of November's elections, and Gbagbo, who has refused to concede. Hundreds of people have been killed since Gbagbo rejected the results of an election in November.
"The phone calls ... they do not stop," Panglungtshang told CNN. "We have people calling about shrapnel landing on their homes or on their neighbor's home or people that are wounded. These are civilians. We are hearing from people who have diabetes and cannot get insulin who are close to losing consciousness. It is just desperate. Desperate."
