Ivory Coast: French forces airlift Japanese ambassador to safety

agbo fighters break into ambassador's residence near presidential compound in Abidjan

• David Smith in Johannesburg, Selay Kouassi in Abidjan and Haroon Siddique
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 7 April 2011 10.16 BST
• Article history

French troops, part of the Ivory Coast UN peacekeeping mission, have staged a dramatic rescue of the Japanese ambassador. Photograph: Getty Images/Xinhua
Fighting is continuing in Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan, as French helicopters target forces loyal to the incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo, who is holed up in the country's presidential palace. French troops staged a rescue mission to airlift the Japanese ambassador to safety after Gbagbo fighters broke into his residence, according to the Japanese foreign ministry. The Japanese ambassador, Yoshifumi Okamura, and seven embassy employees sought refuge inside a safe room when Gbagbo fighters stormed the building and started firing from the roof with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The ambassador's home is in the northern suburb of Cocody, near the presidential compound where Gbagbo's troops are holding off forces loyal to the president-elect, Alassane Ouattara. Witnesses described a series of helicopter attacks near the compound in which at least one armoured vehicle was destroyed. The French troops, part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast, appear not to have targeted the compound itself, but the operation is likely to further raise concerns over France's intervention in its former colony.