An exodus of foreigners from Ivory Coast showed no signs of easing on Saturday as African leaders prepared to met to seek ways to end the crisis in the West African country. More than 4,000 Europeans have been evacuated since Wednesday, companies have jetted out 470 expatriates, some 200 UN staff, 100 Moroccans and many more Africans have quit a nation that was once a model of post-independence prosperity.
"I would think that the figure for evacuees so far could have reached 5,000," said UN spokesman Jean-Victor Nkolo.
The unrest began last week after President Laurent Gbagbo's forces shattered an 18-month cease-fire by bombing the north of the world's top cocoa grower, seized by rebel soldiers in 2002 in a failed coup attempt.
After Ivorian forces killed nine peacekeepers in a raid on a French base last Saturday, France crippled the state's air force, unleashing violent mobs of Ivorian youths across the country.
African leaders sought a solution to Ivory Coast's crisis on Saturday, which they and UN officials fear could suck the whole region into war unless peace is found soon.
South African President Thabo Mbeki was due to meet Burkina Faso's leader in Pretoria on Saturday ahead of an emergency summit of African leaders in Nigeria on Sunday, while UN aid workers prepared for the worst.
About 15,000 French nationals have long resisted quitting their former colony despite a string of coup attempts, the outbreak of civil war and repeated anti-French riots. But the violent attacks by supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo this week proved too much for many.