Ivory Coast government soldiers reinforced patrols in Abidjan on Sunday as hundreds of opponents of President Laurent Gbagbo gathered for a rally to demand he step down at midnight at the end of his term.
Fears of possible unrest after Gbagbo's current five-year mandate ends today have been growing in the West African nation, which has been split in two since a 2002 civil war.
Rebels hold the north while the government controls the south. Despite a UN-backed peace plan which foresees Gbagbo staying on in office for up to 12 months until elections can be held, opposition leaders have said they will not recognise him as president after midnight.
Some opposition youth leaders have threatened street protests to force him out. As hundreds of opposition supporters gathered at an Abidjan sports stadium for a big anti-Gbagbo rally, the government deployed extra troops at key crossroads and strategic bridges in the country's main commercial city, built around a lagoon.
Mr Gbagbo's military chiefs have vowed to stifle any unrest and staged military manoeuvres around the Ebrie Lagoon on Saturday in a bid to dispel fears of a repeat of anti-French riots last November which involved widespread looting.