Thousands mourn Ouattara loyalists in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (Reuters) -- Religious leaders, women in white and other backers of former prime minister Allassane Outtara's Rally of the Republicans paid last respects on Sunday to 38 "martyrs" of Ivory Coast's post-election ethnic violence.

Some of the several thousand supporters of the party -- which gains its strongest support among Muslims living in the north -- waved signs reading "Martyrs" along the freeway leading to Abidjan's Williamsville cemetery as the convoy carrying the coffins drove by.

The atmosphere appeared calm, with only a handful of police officers guarding the roadway before the mass burial.

RDR officials had said on Saturday that for the sake of peace there would be no procession. "We don't want to offer any pretext for provocation," RDR spokesman Aly Coulibaly said.

New Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo had led a national day of mourning on Thursday for scores of people who died in ethnic and political fighting that followed a controversial October 22 presidential election.

Most of the victims came from the Muslim north -- Ouattara's stronghold -- or from the cocoa-producing country's huge Malian and Burkinabe immigrant communities.

Thursday's ceremony had the trappings of a political rally for Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) and some of the crowd had jeered Ouattara as he entered the stadium where the memorial was being held.

Hours after Gbagbo claimed victory in the presidential poll, Ouattara's supporters had taken to the streets demanding a new election because their leader had been barred from running.

Hand-to-hand clashes with their FPI rivals quickly degenerated into ethnic bloodshed.

Gbagbo has a large following in the Christian and animist west and south.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

See related sites about Africa

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.