WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (AFP) - The United States is urging the nearly 3,000 US citizens remaining in the Ivory Coast to leave the country, fearing a "meltdown" in the situation there as a three-week old uprising intensifies, State Department officials said Friday. Diplomats at the US embassy in Abidjan are contacting the some 2,800 Americans still believed to be in the country to tell them to leave, the officials told AFP on condition of anonymity. "Our people are stressing the advisability of departing Cote d'Ivoire now and pointing out the potentially devastating consequences to individuals and families if a meltdown of the political-military situation should occur and commercial means of evacuation suddenly become unavailable," one official said. "All opportunities will be taken to drive home the need for temporary departure in view of the fluid, uncertain environment prevailing in Abidjan and elsewhere," the official said. About 700 of the approximately 3,500 US citizens in Ivory Coast have left the west African nation following a September 22 State Department warning that urged them to do so, a second official said. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher would not address specifics of the situation for Americans in the Ivory Coast but said: "We continue to urge Americans to heed our advice." On September 24, the department instituted an "authorized departure" scheme under which non-essential US diplomats and the families of embassy employees are allowed to leave the country at Washington's expense. Friday's call for the remaining US citizens to leave came as rebellious troops vow to launch a sweeping offensive against the government and the World Food program warned that the security situation in the Ivory Coast was "becoming increasingly volatile." The rebels have seized half the country since they mutinied on September 19 and outside mediation attempts have thus far failed. Senegal's foreign minister was to have met Friday with the insurgents in the hope of preventing all-out civil war, but that meeting was postponed until Saturday. He is believed to be carrying new peace proposals from Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, the chairman of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, in an address to the nation on Tuesday, said that Wade had come up with a new "draft proposal" which he had accepted. But in Korhogo, the main town in the predominantly Muslim north, rebel leader Messamba Kone said the insurgents had ruled out a ceasefire and wanted Gbagbo to quit to make way for a transitional government. The rebels, former soldiers who have returned from exile and mutineers, want an end to discrimination against mainly Muslim northerners in a country traditionally ruled by Christian southerners. The insurgents hold virtually the entire north, and key towns in the centre, west and east. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~