Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo's most feared supporter, Charles Ble Goude, has urged his followers to get ready for battle against the rival government of Alassane Ouattara.

Mr Ble Goude has been under United Nations sanctions since 2006 for "acts of violence by street militias, including beatings, rapes and extrajudicial killings".

He is best known as leader of the Young Patriot movement that led attacks on French interests and opposition supporters during a previous crisis in Ivory Coast in 2004.

He summoned his followers to a rally where he declared that "play time is over".

"We are going to defend the sovereignty of our country until the last drop of our sweat," he said.

"I urge all Ivorians to make themselves ready for this combat. We are going to totally liberate our country."

Both Mr Gbagbo and Mr Ouattara claim to have won last month's presidential election, and both have had themselves declared president.

Mr Ouattara has been recognised by the international community, but the incumbent refuses to cede power.

While Mr Gbagbo retains control of ministries and the armed forces, Mr Ouattara is holed up in a luxury hotel protected by an 800-strong force of UN peacekeepers, and is endorsed by the former colonial power France.

On Friday, French president Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated his call for Mr Gbagbo to stand down, stirring the anger of supporters like Mr Ble Goude.

"He'll have to march over our corpses to get to Gbagbo," warned Mr Ble Goude, who is still nicknamed the "General of the Street" in Abidjan.

In a sign of the rising tension, six men in military uniform opened fire overnight on a United Nations patrol returning to the force's main base in Abidjan, the UN mission complained in a statement.

A UN sentry returned fire but there were no reports of anyone hurt in the clash, and the mission appealed for calm.

- AFP