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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (0) Slideshow Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Japan to stop pumping radioactive water into sea | 11:29am EDT Scientists find superbugs in Delhi drinking water 07 Apr 2011 New York law now makes choking a crime, results in 2,000 arrests 07 Apr 2011 China concerned at Japan's prolonged nuclear crisis 8:44am EDT Facebook now wants a say in computer hardware 4:47am EDT Discussed 119 U.S. to reach debt limit by May 16: Geithner 81 Stumbling blocks remain in budget fight 75 US Republican budget plan would cut $5.8 trln in 10 yrs Watched NATO air strike hits Libyan rebels Thu, Apr 7 2011 7.4 magnitude quake strikes Japan Thu, Apr 7 2011 High fashion for compassion Thu, Apr 7 2011 Witness: In an Ivory Coast hotel, "bunker down and hope" Tweet Share this By Tim Cocks ABIDJAN (Reuters) - The first time Laurent Gbagbo's gunmen stormed our Abidjan hotel in a hail of bullets, I didn't quite believe it was happening. I'd spent hours nervously convincing myself that a big international hotel with 10... Email Print Related News Ouattara overshadowed by Ivory Coast killings 9:30am EDT Ivory Coast's Ouattara seeks recovery despite standoff Thu, Apr 7 2011 Ouattara asks EU to lift sanctions, seeks recovery Thu, Apr 7 2011 Attack on Gbagbo bunker in Ivory Coast repelled Wed, Apr 6 2011 Gbagbo may quit in hours, must go: France Wed, Apr 6 2011 Analysis & Opinion What happens to Fido when you die? Budget wars: The middle class loses big time Related Topics World » Lifestyle » United Nations » 1 / 30 A soldier loyal to Ivory Coast presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara lies on a road as fighting flares across the country's main city Abidjan April 4, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Emmanuel Braun By Tim Cocks ABIDJAN | Fri Apr 8, 2011 10:55am EDT ABIDJAN (Reuters) - The first time Laurent Gbagbo's gunmen stormed our Abidjan hotel in a hail of bullets, I didn't quite believe it was happening. I'd spent hours nervously convincing myself that a big international hotel with 10 floors, hundreds of rooms, steel fencing and a locked gate was an unlikely target. They're fighting a war. They're not interested in us. Even when gunfire and explosions erupted occasionally from the presidential palace a block away, or over the lagoon, I'd felt relatively safe, curled up on the floor in the fetal position. There'd been heavy fighting in Abidjan for a month before we moved to the hotel, and I was learning to sleep through it. But on the morning of April 4, watching from the window as 10 militiamen in combat fatigues jumped the fence one by one and ran inside, I had a sudden realization that picking a French hotel in the town center, full of money and foreigners and lit up like a Christmas tree at night, maybe wasn't such a clever idea. There were about 25 foreign journalists in the Novotel hotel, including five from Reuters -- me, reporters Ange Aboa and Loucoumane Coulibaly, photographer Luc Gnago and cameraman Media Coulibaly. We were here to cover an increasingly vicious war in Ivory Coast, triggered by Gbagbo's refusal to step down after an election which, according to results certified by the United Nations, he lost to his bitter rival Alassane Ouattara. We knew the risk: Gbagbo has been handing out AK-47s to young hotheads for weeks and they've been on the rampage. We'd made a plan about what to do should the hotel be raided. That promptly fell to pieces when the panic set in. We'd agreed to go to the roof. Instead, everyone ran around for a bit, then we somehow mostly all ended up in one room near the top floor. There was more shooting, and shouting. We called the French peacekeeping force, Licorne, and sat in confusion, trying to keep each other quiet in a cacophony of ssssh-ing. But it was soon all over. The militiamen robbed the till, then kidnapped the hotel manager and three guests from their rooms. No one has heard from them since. TRAPPED Overlooking the palm-fringed lagoon to the south -- with its two bridges we could not risk crossing to the safety of a French military base -- I realized we were trapped. I've been living in Ivory Coast since the end of 2009, when everyone was waiting for elections that would resolve a protracted crisis since a 2002-3 rebellion against Gbagbo. 1 2 3 Next World Lifestyle United Nations Tweet this Share this Link this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language, all capital letters or appear to be spam, and we review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. 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