ABIDJAN, Jan. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- A group of 400 non-essential civilian staffers of the UN mission in Cote d'Ivoire withdrew to Gambia and Senegal Thursday for fear of fresh violence against UN personnel.

    The mission said in a statement that this was a temporary evacuation, which left another 800 UN civilian workers in the country along with some 11,000 UN and French peacekeepers.

    An official of the UN mission, who asked to remain anonymous, told Xinhua that about 400 civilian staffers and policemen would fly to Gambia and Senegal, amid fears of fresh violence against Un agencies because the Security Council might slap sanctions soon on people blocking the peace process.

    In New York, UN special envoy for Cote d'Ivoire Pierre Schori told reporters: "Given the vitriolic messages we hear on the radio and in the media, we think that the next few days are not perhaps going to improve very much the situation."

    The pullout decision was made as threats to the UN agencies are still there and the mission lacks sufficient contingency supplies and measures to deal with possible violence, Schori said.

    The unrest in Cote d'Ivoire flared last week after an international working group charged with overseeing the latest UN peace plan recommended that the parliament's mandate which expired on Dec. 16 last year should not be renewed.

    Hundreds of supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo barricaded streets and besieged the UN mission headquarters in Abidjan in the southern part of the country, prompting UN troops to fire warning shots and tear gas.

    In the west, a border region notorious for unrest, Bangladeshi UN troops exchanged fire with youths who attacked military camps at the government-held town of Guiglo. Dozens of protesters were killed or injured, said local media reports. Enditem