Pro-Ouattara forces advance on I. Coast's Abidjan

Members of Pro-Ouattara forces hold their weapons in Duekoue, western Ivory Coast, March 29, 2011. Forces backing Ivory Coast's internationally recognised leader Alassane Ouattara moved swiftly towards the economic capital Abidjan on Thursday in a bid to oust strongman Laurent Gbagbo.

Map of Ivory Coast showing towns seized by forces of internationally-recognised president Alassane Ouattara. Forces backing Ivory Coast's internationally recognised leader Alassane Ouattara moved swiftly towards the economic capital Abidjan on Thursday in a bid to oust strongman Laurent Gbagbo.

Ivory Coast's chief of staff General Philippe Mangou seen during a military ceremony in Abidjan in 2010. Mangou has sought refuge at the official residence of the South African ambassador, the foreign ministry in Pretoria said.

A worker grabs a handful of cocoa beans in the port of San Pedro. Forces backing Ivory Coast's internationally recognised leader Alassane Ouattara have in two days seized the political capital Yamoussoukro and the world's biggest cocoa exporting port town San Pedro.

Pro-Gbagbo militiamen patrol in the empty streets of Abidjan as forces loyal to the internationally recognised Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara approach the capital, on March 31. Forces backing Ouattara moved swiftly towards Abidjan in a bid to oust Gbagbo.

AFP - Forces backing Ivory Coast's internationally recognised leader Alassane Ouattara battled their way to the outskirts of the economic capital Abidjan on Thursday in a bid to oust strongman Laurent Gbagbo.

While the embattled Gbagbo remained silent, his army chief and key ally, General Philippe Mangou, sought refuge in the South African ambassador's residence.

Ouattara said in a televised speech that his troops were at the gates of Abidjan, Gbagbo's last remaining stronghold, and he called on the strongman's soldiers to join his army.

"There is still time to join your brothers. The country is calling you," said Ouattara, who has been unable to take power since being elected in November.

Heavy weapons' fire was heard near a military camp in the city, an AFP journalist reported.

State television said Gbagbo was at his home in upmarket Cocody suburb and "will address his fellow citizens in the coming hours".

To add to the sense of impending chaos, hundreds of prisoners in the country's biggest jail were released en masse and scattered around the West African city.

Ouattara's forces swept through a series of towns earlier Wednesday, meeting little or no resistance as they approached Abidjan from the east and north-west on two main roads.

A resident reported seeing "columns of rebels with 4x4's crossing Nzianouan at around 9:00 am. There were machine guns on military vehicles. They also searched the gendarmerie ... and left towards Abidjan."

Nzianouan is 130 kilometres (80 miles) to the north-west. In the other direction several residents reported pro-Ouattara fighters in Aboisso, 110 kilometres to the east.

Army chief of staff Mangou arrived late Wednesday with his wife and five children at the Abidjan home of Zodwa Lallie, South Africa's ambassador to Ivory Coast, Pretoria's foreign ministry said.

"The South African government is in consultation with the relevant parties in the Ivory Coast, Economic Community of West African States, the African Union and the United Nations regarding this matter," it said.

Mangou, 59, fled to the diplomat's home just one day after state television read out a statement from him urging Gbagbo supporters to enlist in the army if they are "willing to die for their country".

Pro-Ouattara fighters have in two days seized the political capital Yamoussoukro and the world's biggest cocoa exporting port of San Pedro, as the United Nations slapped fresh sanctions on Gbagbo and called for him to cede power, which he has held since 2000.

Gbagbo has steadfastly refused to admit that he lost a disputed November presidential election to Ouattara, a former prime minister, and stand down.

In Abdijan, streets were semi-deserted as scores of barricades sprang up, manned by Gbagbo's most fervent supporters, the "Young Patriots". Sporadic gunfire rang out in several suburbs.

In the early morning the pro-Ouattara army captured San Pedro in an offensive sweep south which began on Monday, as his camp declared all peaceful routes to solve the bloody election crisis exhausted.

"They have total control of the town since 4:00 am," a resident in San Pedro said.

"They launched an offensive between 10:00 pm and 1:00 am and afterwards they carried out searches. Currently they are patrolling the town on board 4x4's armed with Kalashnikovs" and rocket-launchers.

"They control the port, all the strategic sectors of the town," he added.

Ivory Coast is the world's top cocoa producer and exporter but the industry has been strangled by international sanctions trying to choke off Gbagbo's economic power and force him to step down from the presidency.

Gbagbo came under renewed pressure when the United Nations Wednesday followed the European Union and United States in imposing sanctions against him and his leadership.

Late Wednesday Ouattara's prime minister Guillaume Soro told France24 television: "Gbagbo has only a few hours to leave, otherwise we will march on Abidjan and it will become a lot more complicated for him."

The UN resolution, proposed by France and Nigeria, made the first explicit call by the 15-nation Security Council for Gbagbo to stand down in favour of Ouattara, whom the United Nations and virtually all countries say won the presidential election.

It authorised a travel ban and an assets freeze against Gbagbo, his wife Simone and three of his closest associates.

"Gbabgo must go, it is the only way to avoid a full-fledged civil war and maybe bloody violence in the streets of Abidjan," France's ambassador Gerard Araud said.