ABIDJAN, Nov. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- New chaotic violence involving French troops Tuesday killed at least 10 people and wounded hundreds in Cote d'Ivoire as South African President Thabo Mbeki arrived in the west African country for peace efforts.

    The clash took place as thousands of protesters rallied outsidethe home of President Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan, next to a hotel that the French have converted into a temporary evacuation center.     

    Protesters threatened to form a "human shield" around Gbagbo's home in a plush residential district in case French soldiers, who have taken over the nearby Hotel Ivoire complex, moved towards theresidence.

    Gbagbo appealed on Sunday for an end to the anti-French mob violence which erupted after France destroyed most of the former French colony's small air force.

    Reports from Nigeria said on Tuesday Cote d'Ivoire's ports shipping "more than 40 percent of the world's raw material for chocolate were closed down" since last Saturday. The unrest coincided with the main harvest of Cote d'Ivoire, world's largest cocoa producer.

    UN and French soldiers patrolled the streets of Abidjan on Monday night, scene of anti-French violence over the weekend, in which the International Committee of the Red Cross said more than 600 people were injured across the country.

    South African President Thabo Mbeki, on behalf of the African Union to resolve the crisis, arrived in Abidjan on Tuesday morning.

    According to an AU communique, Mbeki's mission was to promote "a political solution," and he would try to bring Ivorian PresidentLaurent Gbagbo and opposition leader Alassane Ouatarra into negotiations along with Gabonese and Burkina Faso Presidents Omar Bongo and Blaise Compaore.

    The former French colony was divided into the rebel-held north and the government controlled south since a failed coup two years ago. The United Nations peacekeepers and the French Unicorn Force police formed a buffer zone between them.

    The Ivorian military started an offensive in the rebel-held north last Thursday. On Saturday, its warplanes bombed a French base near the rebel stronghold of Bouake, killing nine French soldiers and an American relief worker.

    The air attacks drew immediate retaliation by France, which destroyed almost the entire air force of Cote d'Ivoire. The exchange of fire triggered mass anti-French protests in Abidjan. Some French businesses have been looted.

    The French side has taken control of the Abidjan airport, wherehundreds of foreign nationals were sheltered nearby. First French reinforcement arrived in Abidjan on Sunday.

    The UN Security Council was expected to vote Wednesday on a French resolution proposing sanctions against Cote d'Ivoire, includig a 12-month arms embargo, targeted travel bans and asset freezings.

    UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement Tuesday, expressing concern about a possible humanitarian crisis and urgingCote d'Ivoire to stop spreading messages of hate via the media.

    Philippe Djangone-Bi, Ivory Coast's UN ambassador, accused France of humiliating its former colony and inflaming violence by destroying its airforce.

    The paternalistic attitude of France will create chaos for its move robbed the government's military advantage over rebel forces,he said. Enditem