Thousands of militants loyal to Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo at a rally on Saturday demanded United Nations peacekeepers disarm rebel fighters or leave the West African country.
Some 15,000 pro-Gbagbo militants poured into the country's largest stadium in the main city Abidjan wearing mock blue helmets like those worn by UN soldiers and T-shirts bearing the motto "Disarmament or Nothing".
"If the rebels don't put down their arms, our arms will put down the rebels," read one banner among the crowd.
Former colonial power France brokered a peace deal in January 2003 to end civil war in the world's top cocoa grower, but the country remains split between a government-controlled south and rebel-held north with peacekeepers in the middle.
Thousands of people were killed and more than a million forced from their homes in a war which shattered Ivory Coast's reputation as a stable economic powerhouse in an impoverished and turbulent region.
Some 4,000 French troops are deployed in Ivory Coast. A UN force that will number 6,240 soldiers is now building up, with 2,737 coming from Bangladesh and 700 from Morocco.
"I don't expect anything from the UN They should leave Ivory Coast and let us resolve our own problems," shouted student Kouadio Gbagbo above the cries of the protesters.
Supporters of the rebels staged a parallel protest in their stronghold Bouake, some 350 km (220 miles) north of Abidjan, calling for President Gbagbo to quit.
They accuse him of shattering the so-called Marcoussis peace accords by sacking three opposition ministers, including the leader of the rebel movement Guillaume Soro, earlier this month for boycotting cabinet meetings.
Power-sharing was a central element of the peace deal.
"We're marching for Gbagbo to leave power. We're tired of his refusal to implement Marcoussis," said Massendje Keita, 30, en route for Bouake's stadium where Soro was due to speak.
The rallies on International Day for UN Peacekeepers come at a difficult time for the world body in Ivory Coast.
Albert Tevoedjre, head of the UN mission in the West African country, has repeatedly said its mandate is to support the power-sharing government, not to disarm fighters itself.
He has appealed to the Ivorian people not to blame the international community for delays in the peace process.
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