Ivory Coast: Gbagbo orders search of UN vehicles

THE United Nations reacted with fury after Ivory Coast's incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo ordered the military to stop and search the world body's vehicles.

A UN spokesman called it "a serious violation". The move is the latest escalation of hostilities between the man who refuses to leave office and the UN, which declared his rival the recent election winner.

It comes after a series of attacks on UN peacekeepers. Last week security forces allied to Gbagbo attacked six UN vehicles, setting some ablaze and wounding two.