ABIDJAN, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast angrily denied on Thursday that it had hired dozens of South African mercenaries to help the government fight rebels who hold half the territory of the world's largest cocoa producer. In a strongly worded statement, President Laurent Gbagbo's adviser in Paris, Toussaint Alain, said "absolutely no credit should be given to reports that South African mercenaries are in Ivory Coast". "These fantasy allegations, obligingly peddled by a Western military source and armed rebels, are aimed at torpedoing peace negotiations in Lome," the statement said. Reports that the mercenaries had arrived in Abidjan...