Supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo clashed with French troops in a standoff that killed at least seven people, boosting tensions in Ivory Coast despite an upbeat assessment of peace prospects by South African PresidentThabo Mbeki.

The violence outside Abidjan's luxury Hotel Ivoire, less than one kilometer (half a mile) from the presidential residence where the heads of state met, took the reported death toll from the week of unrest to 132 people across the divided west African state.

Mbeki left Abidjan after his daylong mission on behalf of the African Union saying he was "pleased" by Gbagbo's commitment to restoring peace.

The South African president has been a key mediator in the two years of turmoil in Ivory Coast, which flared again Thursday with air strikes Gbagbo said he had ordered to "liberate and reunify the country" but which the international community has condemned as a violation of an 18-month-old ceasefire.