[size=14pt]Fierce firefight near HQ of Ivory Coast's Ouattara[/size]
(AFP) – 37 minutes ago

ABIDJAN — Former rebels loyal to would-be Ivorian leader Alassane Ouattara fought a fierce battle with troops backing his rival Laurent Gbagbo on Thursday, in an apparent bid to break a siege on their Abidjan base.

A heavy exchange of fire erupted at around 11.30am (1130 GMT) and several explosions were heard in the area around the Golf Hotel, Ouattara's waterfront base in the Ivory Coast commercial capital.

The former rebel fighters from the New Forces movement saw two of their number killed and one wounded in the fighting, Sindou Meite, a spokesman for the Ouattara shadow government told reporters at the hotel.

They had been trying to force their way past a roadblock in order to clear a way for demonstrators to reach state television headquarters and seize control.

Shooting subsided after around 90 minutes when Gbagbo's regular forces were reinforced. Soldiers armed with automatic weapons fanned out around the hotel and maintained control of a road block barring the road outside.

Both Gbagbo and Ouattara claim to have won last month's presidential vote but, while the latter enjoys the backing of the international community, the incumbent still retains the loyalty of the armed forces.

Ouattara and his choice for prime minister, the leader of the New Forces former rebel movement Guillaume Soro, are encamped at the Golf Hotel under the protection of United Nations peacekeepers.

Soro, who has been declared prime minister in Ouattara's shadow government, said in a statement that "elements of his security team" had been ambushed by government forces as they set off on a scouting mission.

The pair had called on supporters to march on the headquarters of pro-Gbagbo state television on Thursday, and rioting has erupted across Abidjan and crowds of demonstrators battle police and troops.

Elsewhere in the city, journalists from AFP saw at least four protesters dead from gunshot wounds after gunfire rang out.

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