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Ivory Coast's ruling party has called on peacekeepers to pull out, while protesters have attacked UN bases.
Supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo are angry at international mediators, who say that parliament, which backs Mr Gbagbo, should stand down.

UN troops have fired tear gas to repel protesters in the main city, Abidjan, while a UN base has been overrun in the western town of Guiglo.

The ruling FPI has also said that it is pulling out of the peace process.

The mediators were appointed by the UN to help steer the country towards elections, due this year.

Ivory Coast has been divided since September 2002, when rebels seized the north.

'Government of liberation'

The Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) said the international community - especially the UN and former colonial power France - had failed Ivory Coast and were now carrying out a "constitutional coup d'etat".

Party President Pascal Affi N'Guessan said the seven FPI ministers would withdraw from the government of national unity set up under UN auspices.


He said a "government of liberation" should be set up, to kick out the rebel New Forces.

The BBC's James Copnall in Abidjan says this is the biggest test Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny has faced since his appointment last month.

Our correspondent says Mr Konan Banny must regain control of a situation which is slipping out of his hands.

The pro-Gbagbo Young Patriots now control virtually all the main streets in Abidjan, our correspondent says.

Schools and shops were again closed in the city centre on Tuesday, while UN vehicles were stoned.

The tear gas was fired after crowds broke through the outer fence at the UN compound.

In Guiglo, some 1,000 protesters forced Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers to take down the flags of Bangladesh and the UN, and replace them with an Ivorian one.

However, it was all done relatively peacefully, our correspondent says.

There were similar protests in other towns of the government-controlled south.

'Foreign interference'

Elections due last October were postponed because of the continued instability.

The UN has extended the mandate of Mr Gbagbo for another year, so that elections can be organised, while a power-sharing government runs the country.


Mr Gbagbo's supporters say foreigners want to control Ivory Coast
Our correspondent says the national assembly is one of Mr Gbagbo's last power-bases.

He adds that Mr Gbagbo's supporters feel that if parliament's mandate is not renewed, it will mean that foreigners are imposing their will on Ivory Coast.

The former ruling PDCI has also condemned the idea of dissolving parliament.

Analysts say the international working group's move was intended to strengthen Prime Minister Banny's authority and ensure that hostile deputies did not block attempts to implement the peace process, as happened last year.

On Monday evening, the Young Patriots organised a sit-in in front of the French embassy.

Their leader, Charles Ble Goude, told the BBC that France - the former colonial power - was behind the international working group's decision.

The Young Patriots have attacked French citizens in the past, most notably in November 2004 when more than 8,000 Westerners were evacuated.

Some 10,000 French and African peacekeepers are in Ivory Coast.