800 massacred in ivory coast

French peacekeepers in war-torn Ivory Coast were in control of the airport in the main city of Abidjan, the French Ministry of Defense said Sunday, as a battle for the city seemed to be looming.

An additional 350 French troops joined the United Nations peacekeeping mission overnight, the ministry added. There were about 7,500 troops already in the country under the U.N. mandate.

United Nations helicopters and French forces patrolled the skies over the city as a tense calm reigned Sunday morning, a local resident told CNN.

The uneasy peace came in the wake of claims of a massacre as fighters backing internationally recognized President Alassane Ouattara battle forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to leave office.

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Foreign journalists reported being targeted and scrutinized. A group of journalists from the French TV channel France 2 were fired on by Gbagbo's forces when they tried to leave the Novotel hotel in Abidjan, according to the channel and two journalists who did not want their names used to protect their security.

Since then, Gbagbo forces have been patrolling the hotel premises, preventing foreign journalists staying there from leaving, the sources said.

One resident, whom CNN is not naming to protect his safety, said he had been to church as usual, where another parishioner said he had seen dead bodies by the road on his way to the congregation.

A journalist in the city said many people were afraid to leave their homes, but were being forced to venture out to get water.

Seyi Rhodes, who is staying at a hotel in Abidjan, said people were risking being shot in order to get to a water pump near the hotel. He saw French journalists come under fire as they drove through the city, he said.

Much of the city has no electricity, he added, calling it "a really crude tactic to get people out on the streets."

The United Nations moved about 200 personnel within the country for their own safety as the situation got worse, spokesman Nick Birnback said Sunday.

"Peacekeepers and staff have been attacked over the last few days, we've taken some casualties, and we are doing everything we can do to guarantee security as best as possible. The situation is deteriorating and is getting worse," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded Sunday that Gbagbo step aside immediately.

"Gbagbo is pushing Cote d'Ivoire into lawlessness," she said, using the French name for the country. "He must leave now so the conflict may end."

She also called "on the forces of President Ouattara to respect the rules of war and stop attacks on civilians."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Sunday said Britain renewed "our call for Gbagbo to get out, which would stop this violence," and raised the possibility of International Criminal Court prosecutions stemming from the conflict.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and requested the full implementation of a Security Council resolution, adopted last week, that calls on Gbagbo to step aside immediately, Sarkozy's office said.

A French plane evacuated about 170 foreigners from Abidjan to Dakar, Senegal, according to Col. Thierry Burkhard of the French Ministry of Defense.