French Troops Halt Rebel Advance in Ivory Coast (JIHADISTS DEFEATED)

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Rebel fighters in Ivory Coast drew back on Sunday from the scene of a bruising clash with French troops that halted their advance and took the former colonial power a big step deeper into the messy war.

All three rebel factions in the West African country condemned the French for blasting rebel vehicles on Saturday to stop insurgents capturing a key junction in the cocoa-growing region of the world's top producer.

The French effectively held the line for President Laurent Gbagbo's mercenary-backed forces as they retreated from earlier defeats to Duekoue, still 300 miles from the main city of Abidjan.

Ivory Coast's war sprang from a failed September 19 coup and has increasingly fractured the country of 16 million along ethnic lines. Hundreds of people have been killed in fighting and tens of thousands forced to flee their homes.

French army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Ange-Antoine Leccia said the rebels had pulled back from around Duekoue on Sunday.

"It is not our job to follow them. We will only respond if we are attacked," he said.

Faced by the possible collapse of French-speaking West Africa's economic hub and a cornerstone of French influence in the region, France has gradually stepped up a role that initially went little further than protecting foreigners.

The clash at the western town of Duekoue on Saturday was the first time the French opened fire to stop the rebels since France began beefing up its operation into its biggest African intervention force since the 1980s -- of up to 2,500 troops.

Foreign Legion paratroopers blasted three rebel pickup trucks with heavy weapons after coming under fire on a dirt road outside Duekoue, a vital junction for the rebels to seize if they are to get beyond the west.

Felix Doh, of the Ivorian Popular Movement of the Far West (MPIGO) rebel group, said it had suffered no dead in the clash and though its fighters had pulled back they remained nearby.

"We are trying to understand why the French are stopping us from advancing when Gbagbo's men are killing our relatives in Abidjan. If the French bar our way we will be obliged to force it open," he told Reuters by satellite phone.

MPIGO and another faction in the west want to avenge the death of their Yacouba kinsman Robert Guei, a former junta leader, at the hands of loyalist forces.

They are separate from the main Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast (MPCI) rebel group, which has held the largely Muslim, Dioula-speaking northern half of the country since the failed putsch in mid-September.

The three rebel groups said they planned to meet on Monday in the MPCI stronghold of Bouake to discuss an alliance as well as the French involvement. They said the French had begun to act as "true forces of conquest and occupation."

All the rebel groups want to see the back of Gbagbo and accuse him of fanning ethnic tension after winning disputed elections in 2000. The government says the rebels are simply hungry for power and helped by neighboring states.

The main rebel group signed a cease-fire in October and began talks in Togo with government negotiators, but the negotiations have brought little sign of a deal to restore order to what was for decades a haven of peace.

" now are calling islamowackos rebels"

Perhaps a better definition would be IslamWHACKERS.

Muslims have been on a killing spree in Africa in the past ten years, with wholesale killings by the tens of thousands of christians.

At one christian slaughter, it was reported a river turned red from the amount of blood.

At any rate, literally millions of christians have been slaughtered in Africa by the muslim onslaught - only to be overlooked by the rest of the world.

"these are the french who wouldn't let us fly our f-111's over their country to bomb libya..."

How well I recall that scenario.

Courteousy of Lt. General David Nichols, USAF, Moamar had a very real "come to Jesus" meeting - we missed him by fifteen minutes.

"But the fatigue from an incredibly long journey around self-serving France might have played a part."

Don't forget the jihad is getting closer to home for the French - namely the French oil tanker sunk by the jihad.

The French have hated American guts since de Gaulle.

We literally jerked millions of Frenchmen from the gulags.

Had we not liberated France in WWII, the German occupation would have turned into the German annihalation.

We bailed them out of Vietnam (much to our national shame).

The French have never been grateful for the American blood shed for thier liberty at places such as Normandy.

Viva la what?

"At any rate, literally millions of christians have been slaughtered in Africa by the muslim onslaught - only to be overlooked by the rest of the world."

Sudan is only the tip of the iceberg. The islamotrash have been practicing genocide against Christians in Africa in wholesale amounts and no one lifts a finger.

They also might want to apologize for all those Spanish jokes that the French find so hilarious, especially, "Africa begins at the Pyrenees." They may need to call on Ferdinand and Isabella before it's all over, and unless they play their cards right, they might just find that Africa--AND the Middle East and the Islamic world--extend to the Belgian border.

Scratch that border, it's going to be extended to the Polish border.

Yes. The Polish border and the North Pole.

Those who lack the will to protect their children and themselves and to survive probably don't deserve to. However, it's doubtful that the Russians and the Americans will merely concede that real estate.

We missed Qaddafi, but destroyed his compound. Within two months he began the process of closing down some 22 terrorist camps found in Libya. His support for Palestinians dwindled, and his appearances in public were few. His attack on Chad bogged down. He backed out of support for rebels in Uganda, Sudan and the Central African Republic and called off raids on Tunisian border villages. He sold his shares in FIAT. Finally, Qaddafi disappeared from Europe, Africa and the UN scene for two years, and was never the same after that. We may have missed him, but one small air attack accomplished one hell of a lot for peace on earth. Merry Christmas.

"Finally, Qaddafi disappeared from Europe, Africa and the UN scene for two years, and was never the same after that. We may have missed him, but one small air attack accomplished one hell of a lot for peace on earth. Merry Christmas."

That was quite a recap of Qaddafi's "change of heart" after we "spoke to him" in language he could completely, unequivocably understand.

I'd like to see some of this language go out to a few select terrorist supporters in places like Saudi Arabia, Phillipines, South America . . you know . . "The Hangouts."

Nothing can stop the U.S. Air Force!

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year To You and All Yours!

The French Foreign Legion has a proud history.

France gave us the Lady of Liberty as a token of their appreciation and a salute to liberty everywhere.

She now has a message to the friendly little terrorists:

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