Japanese ambassador rescued from Ivory Coast

Late yesterday, French helicopters moved in to evacuate the Japanese ambassador, Okamura Yoshifumi, after his home near the presidential residence was invaded by unidentified gunmen.

The envoy and his aides were whisked to safety in a French military camp at Port-Bouet, south of Abidjan, the French embassy said, acting after a request from Japan and the UN.

French officials said soldiers traded fire with guards at the compound where Laurent Gbagbo is situated, refusing to stand down as leader.

His rival Alassane Ouattara's forces surround the residence, where fighting continued through the night.

Gbagbo is refusing to resign after losing an election in November.

He disputes the result, but the Ivorian election commission said he lost and the UN certified that result.

The ballot had been intended to reunite the former French colony, which split in two following a northern rebellion in 2002.

The BBC reports that the city was lit up by explosions overnight with fighting surrounding the presidential residence.

Pro-Ouattara forces were driven back when they tried to storm the compound on Wednesday.

Gbagbo says Ouattara's troops want to kill him, but they say they have strict orders to capture him alive.

France has had troops in Ivory Coast alongside UN peacekeepers since the country's civil war almost a decade ago.

Japanese ambassador Yoshifumi said a group of "mercenaries" had occupied his residence for five hours.

He said the gunmen had launched rockets and fired machine-guns and cannon from the building, while he and others sheltered in a safe room.

The envoy said he later found four employees, security guards and a gardener, were missing and there was "a lot of blood" in the house.