Gbagbo demonstrators also held a rally. The standoff has raised fears of renewed violence in the former French colony, which has suffered riots, massacres and looting in the last few years. Sunday's rallies were initially peaceful, although opposition supporters said machete-wielding pro-Gbagbo militants attacked a bus travelling to the Abidjan rally, injuring two people. There was no independent confirmation of the incident. Opposition speakers in Abidjan and Bouake rejected a U.N. Security Council resolution that foresees Gbagbo remaining head of state for up to a year until elections are held and the appointment of a strong prime minister to accompany him. The opposition says the premier should come from its ranks. The government had staged military manoeuvres around Abidjan's Ebrie Lagoon on Saturday in a bid to dispel fears of a repeat of anti-French riots last November which involved widespread looting. The November 2004 violence led to the exodus of several thousand foreigners, most of them French. "Although I note that a certain calm prevails, the political situation in Ivory Coast remains fragile and unpredictable," French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said in an interview published on Sunday. She told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper that tensions persisted and Abidjan was full of rumours of a possible coup.
