BBC News with Fiona MacDonald

The West African regional body Ecowas has called on the">the United Nations Security Council to

then">strengthen

the

mandate

of UN peacekeepers in Ivory Coast. Ecowas said the UN soldiers should be

authorise

d to use all necessary means to ensure power was transferred to Alassane Ouattara, the man widely recognised as the winner of last year's presidential election. John James is in Bouake.

Leaders in the region are getting increasingly frustrated at Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to step down despite calls by the Ecowas region, by the African Union and many other bodies that have looked into the election.

And really many people fear now that force is the last

resort

and the only resort to get Laurent Gbagbo to leave power, especially given the prospect of a civil war which seems to be happening on the ground here.

A lot of violence is in Abidjan, which is the main city, and there we've seen urban fighting between fighters loyal to both sides, and also attacks on civilians, the shelling of civilian areas.

Syrian television reports say that President Assad has ordered the release of all people detained during recent unrest. The move came soon after the Syrian government said it would examine ways to meet the legitimate demands of people in the city of Deraa, where at least 25 protesters were shot dead by security forces on Wednesday. Lina Sinjab reports from Damascus.