document: Ivory Coast Rebels Seize State TV , Control Gbagbo Palace -LRB- Updates with comments on Gbagbo 's whereabouts in second paragraph , defection of police unit in 10th . -RRB- April 1 -LRB- Bloomberg -RRB- - Ivory Coast forces backing election winner Alassane Ouattara said they seized the state broadcaster and attacked incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo 's residence and presidential palace amid heavy fighting . The Republican Forces now control Gbagbo 's residence in the Cocody neighborhood of Abidjan , the commercial capital , said Meite Sindou , a spokesman for Ouattara 's prime minister , Guillaume Soro . Explosions and gunfire continued to rock the district and plumes of smoke rose into the sky , residents said . Gbagbo 's spokesman denied speculation he fled the country . `` He is on Ivoirian territory , he has no intention of resigning , '' the spokesman , Ahoua Don Mello , said in an interview broadcast today on Radio France Internationale . The Republican Forces entered Abidjan late yesterday after an ultimatum for Gbagbo to accept his Nov. 28 election defeat and step down lapsed . The fighters had swept south from their base in the north of the country over the past two weeks , meeting little resistance from Gbagbo 's forces . `` Radio Television Ivorienne fell into our hands last night , '' Sindou said in a phone interview today . Television broadcasts were halted at about midnight as heavy artillery fire and explosions shook buildings . Abandoned Cocoa prices have tumbled 9.4 percent in the past 10 days as traders predict an imminent end to the impasse in the world 's largest cocoa producer . The crisis led the West African nation to default on its $ 2.3 billion Eurobond , which has rallied 38 percent in 10 days as Ouattara 's forces advance . The United Nations , the U.S. , the African Union and the European Union all recognize Ouattara , 69 , as the winner of the nation 's first vote in a decade , while Gbagbo , 65 , refuses to step down , alleging voter fraud . Gbagbo 's whereabouts are unknown , Bernard Valero , spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of former colonial power France , told reporters in Paris today . `` The security forces around Mr. Gbagbo seem to have abandoned him , after he 'd been abandoned by the army leadership , '' Valero said . `` This creates uncertainty and risk in the town , particularly for looting . '' Desertions An elite 1,000-member security unit founded by Gbagbo in 2005 announced today it would defect to Ouattara 's government . The unit , known as the Centre de Commandement des Operations de Securite , or Cecos , called on its members to `` rally without further delay to the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast , '' according to a statement on its website . Even before the Republican Forces entered Abidjan , the head of Gbagbo 's army , General Phillipe Mangou , sought refuge at the residence of the South African ambassador , the Pretoria-based Foreign Ministry said . In another blow to Gbagbo , General Edouard Tiape Kassarate , head of the military police , defected to Ouattara 's administration at its headquarters in the Golf Hotel in Abidjan , Alain Lobognon , an adviser to Soro , said in a telephone interview yesterday . `` I 'm not sure Gbagbo is in control any longer , '' said Rinaldo Depagne , a Dakar-based analyst for International Crisis Group . `` The first step for a peaceful outcome is Gbagbo coming and saying ` I quit ' . '' Human Rights There was a `` mass exodus '' out of Abidjan as civilians tried to avoid the clashes , the UN Refugee Agency said on its website yesterday . The UN said it had received `` unconfirmed but worrying reports '' of human rights violations committed by the Republican Forces in the western towns of Guiglo and Daloa and in Abidjan . The fighters may have arbitrarily arrested , abducted and extorted money from civilians , the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an e-mailed statement . Pro-Gbagbo troops have committed `` daily '' human rights violations , including the reported burning of two civilians alive , OCHA said . Ouattara yesterday ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew and the closure of all borders , according to an e-mailed statement . Cocoa for May delivery rose for the first day this week , rising $ 6 , or 0.2 percent , to $ 2,958 per metric ton as of 2:44 p.m. in London trading . The price for the beans slumped to an 11-week low yesterday on hopes for a quick resumption in exports , which had been crippled by European Union sanctions . Ivory Coast 's defaulted dollar-denominated bond jumped 6.2 percent to 49.583 cents on the dollar at 1:45 p.m. in Abidjan , according to data compiled by Bloomberg . Death Toll At least 494 people have died in the conflict so far , the UN said in an e-mailed statement . Retreating Liberian mercenaries committed arbitrary executions and looted towns , especially around the western town of Guiglo , it said . About 500 foreign nationals had taken refuge at a French military camp on the outskirts of Abidjan , Agence France-Presse reported , citing Colonel Thierry Burkhard of the French army . A 34-year-old Swedish woman working for the UN mission in Ivory Coast was killed by gunfire in her home in Abidjan last night , Carl Bildt , Sweden 's foreign minister , said in an e-mailed statement today . Jan Pieter Ohler , a Dutch diplomat , said youths were looting stores and houses in the wealthy neighborhood of Zone 4 . `` The economic damage will be considerable , '' he said by phone . `` The French army reinforced its deployment in the area and extracted several expats from their homes . There is a real sense of lawlessness . '' African Union Commission President Jean Ping called on Gbagbo to `` immediately '' step down and hand power to Ouattara , according to an e-mailed statement today . Gbagbo still has `` an opportunity to step aside and avoid bloodshed , '' Johnnie Carson , the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs , told reporters in Washington yesterday . If he does n't he will be held accountable for violence in the city , Carson said . - With assistance from Franz Wild in Johannesburg , Jason McLure in Accra , Gregory Viscusi in Paris and Gopal Ratnam in Washington . Editors : Philip Sanders , Karl Maier To contact the reporters on this story : Olivier Monnier in Abidjan at omonnier@bloomberg.net; Pauline Bax in Abidjan at pbax@bloomberg.net; Franz Wild in Johannesburg at fwild@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story : Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net .
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