Revolt Erupts in West Ivory Coast

DUEKOUE, Ivory Coast —  Government troop reinforcements sped toward the western Ivory Coast on Friday to try to quell a rebellion that has split control of the West African country three ways.

The south is under loyalist control, the north has been held by rebels for more than two months, and a chunk of the west is now in the hands of other insurgents.

Hundreds of heavily armed troops massed in the town of Duekoue, joining soldiers who were driven Thursday from Danane and Man, about 300 miles northwest of the country’s main city, Abidjan.

The rebels holding Man said they were planning to advance south and seek the death of President Laurent Gbagbo for the killing of a former junta leader.

“We are going to go all the way to Abidjan,” said a spokesman for the group, which calls itself the Movement for Justice and Peace.

The faction is linked to Gen. Robert Guei, who ruled for 10 months after a 1999 coup and was shot to death by loyalists Sept. 19, the day of a failed coup attempt.

Young rebels in stolen pickup trucks cruised the streets of the captured towns.

On Ivory Coast’s northern battle front, French troops reported that Gbagbo’s forces and foreign mercenaries had pulled back behind a cease-fire line after striking into territory held by main rebel group Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast.

French soldiers are monitoring a truce agreed to six weeks ago by rebels who have held most of the largely Muslim north since the failed coup kicked off the war.

Hundreds have died in the fighting.

The latest violence has added to confusion at peace talks between the main rebel group and government negotiators in Togo. Nearly a month of wrangling has brought little sign of a deal.

The northern rebels accuse Gbagbo, a Christian from the southwest, of encouraging ethnic discrimination and want him to step down.