During the demonstration, which was attended by parliament speaker Mamadou Coulibaly, Charles Ble Goude, organizer and leaderof the "Patriotic Youth," also asked the United Nations peacekeeping forces to disarm the rebels at the earliest possible time.

If the UN forces don't do it, they would take the responsibility, Goude added.

The gathering had been planned to be held Saturday, along with a religious ceremony to mourn the demonstrators killed on March 25during a clash with police.

After considering the possibility of facing conflict with the opposition, the organizers decided to postpone the gathering to Sunday.

The tension in Cote d'Ivoire has been escalating since March, as the opposition, including former rebels, launched anti-government demonstrations in the capital of Abidjan and other cities of the country and later withdrew from the national reconciliation government, partly paralyzing the government.

The civil war broke out in the world's top cocoa producer in September 2002 after a failed coup attempt. A peace agreement was signed in Linas-Marcoussis near Paris by the Cote d'Ivoire government, rebel forces and opposition political parties on January 24, 2003 to end the four-month conflict in the West African country. A national reconciliation government was formed afterward.

However, the tension in the country has not been eased as the plan to disarm the warring parties has failed to be carried out.

Source: Xinhua