Security forces loyal to Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo were posted yesterday outside the shut headquarters of subsidiaries of French banks, a day after they were requisitioned by the regime.

France yesterday condemned Mr Gbagbo for announcing that he was taking control of these banks and stated that the decision was null and void “since it comes from authorities that are not legitimate”.

The US also denounced the nationalisation, with State Department spokesman Philip Crowley telling reporters, that it “could result in serious implications for monetary stability and investor confidence” in Ivory Coast.

In the Plateau business district, about a dozen soldiers were watching over the entrances to the SGBCI, the Ivorian subsidiary of France’s Société Générale, which was closed for business. A police truck was stationed nearby.

In front of the headquarters of the BICICI, subsidiary of French group BNP Paribas, more than a dozen policemen and paramilitary gendarmes were posted on guard. The BICICI has been shut since Monday.

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