U.N. peacekeepers attacked in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – U.N. peacekeepers fought off armed attackers besieging their compound Wednesday in fighting that left at least four dead and 10 wounded in a third day of unrest in the divided West African nation.

Peacekeepers and staff were evacuating the scene of the violence in the government-held south. They also were leaving a nearby town where they received threats of violence. In the main city of Abidjan, U.N. soldiers fired shots into the air and launched tear gas grenades at demonstrators for a second day, keeping about 1,000 protesters at bay.

Rebels fighting President Laurent Gbagbo have accused his supporters of orchestrating the turmoil to undermine a new government that diminishes the president’s power.

U.N. Security Council President Augustine Mahiga called Wednesday for Gbagbo to rein in the unrest and said sanctions were an option. Gbagbo responded with a call for supporters to end three days of violent protests, telling them to go home and asking fearful workers to return to work.

The “president asks the population to pull back from the streets and to go home,” said a statement read on state media.

Gbagbo has officially banned street demonstrations but his security forces have appeared to do little to disperse protesters erecting burning barricades in streets and besieging U.N. offices across the cocoa-rich south.