U.N. peacekeepers in Ivory Coast fired into the air and French soldiers blasted teargas to disperse stone-throwing demonstrators in the rebel-held town of Bouake on Monday, peacekeepers said. Witnesses said three protesters were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds after the blue-helmeted troops fired into the air and the French army said six of its soldiers had been injured by stones in a separate incident. "Faced by an ever more threatening crowd, the U.N.'s blue helmets, who had been given orders to show the utmost restraint, fired into the air, as a warning," the U.N. mission in Ivory Coast (ONUCI) said in a statement. "At no point did U.N. military personnel fire on civilians. ONUCI appeals for calm," it said. The protesters in the rebel stronghold of Bouake fear peacekeepers in the world's top cocoa grower plan to disarm the rebels, known as the New Forces, by force when an Oct. 15 deadline for them to lay down their guns expires. The violent protests came as chiefs of staff from the Ivorian army and the rebel New Forces met with President Laurent Gbagbo in the capital Yamoussoukro to discuss disarmament. The meetings continued into Monday evening. Rebels seized the northern half of the West African country after a failed coup against Gbagbo in September 2002. While civil war was officially declared over in July 2003 the country is still split in two, with 10,000 French and U.N. peacekeepers policing a ceasefire line in the middle.
