Ivory Coast rebels on high alert for government attack

Ivory Coast's rebel forces on Monday said they had put their troops on maximum alert, accusing President Laurent Gbagbo of planning a return to civil war in a nation still divided despite a fragile peace process.

The rebel statement came as West African leaders struggled to end a standoff between Gbagbo and his enemies that has raised fears of renewed fighting in the former French colony, where thousands of people were killed during the war.

"We are on a state of maximum alert. That means that the soldiers are really ready," rebel chief of staff Colonel Soumaila Bakayoko said. In an earlier statement, he said a "state of emergency" had been declared in rebel territory.

Ivory Coast plunged into civil war in September last year after rebels tried to oust Gbagbo. They failed but seized the north and large chunks of the west of the world's top cocoa grower.

A peace deal was agreed in January and rebels joined a power-sharing government, but they pulled out in September, accusing Gbagbo of undermining the accord to end the war in the still-divided nation.

Bakayoko said the Ivorian army chief of staff, General Mathias Doue, had "signed an act of war which anticipates a renewal of hostilities with attacks on the cities of Man and Bouake," both rebel-held strongholds.

The Ivorian army swiftly denied the claims.

"It's completely untrue. We respect the ceasefire," said spokesman N'Goran Aka, adding however that if the rebels breached the truce, the army would respond.

The rebel declaration came just two days after an emotional ceremony was held in the government-held city of Abidjan to honor 186 members of the security forces killed during the war.

In a speech at the commemoration, Doue warned the fighting could start again.

"Yes, that is still possible. And it could start again at any moment," he said.

Both sides have regularly accused the other of plotting a return to the battlefield. The rebels say Gbagbo has been buying weapons and eyewitnesses have seen crates of ammunition being unloaded from cargo planes in Abidjan over the past two weeks.

Gbagbo accuses the rebels of dragging their heels on disarmament and of conspiring to assassinate him.

West African leaders have been trying to negotiate an end to the deadlock, eager to avert further tensions in a nation that is home to millions of immigrants from neighboring countries.

Rebels have met with the leaders of Senegal and Togo in recent days and are due to meet the president of Ghana on Tuesday. Gbagbo has also held talks with his counterparts.