Rebels in Ivory Coast say they have agreed in principle to a peace plan aimed at ending the month-long crisis in the country.

A rebel leader, Guillaume Soro, told the BBC's French for Africa service that a rebel delegation would meet West African mediators at 1000GMT in the rebel-held town of Bouake to discuss the plan submitted by Senegalese President Wade.

Earlier, five European Union countries - Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain - advised their nationals to leave Ivory Coast.

As four weeks of conflict sparked by a rebel uprising show no sign of abating, the British Foreign Office said all except those whose presence in Ivory Coast was deemed essential should leave the country.

Warning

They urged people to avoid demonstrations and large gatherings, warning that "if the situation deteriorates further it may not be possible for the British Embassy to assist with an evacuation".

On Wednesday, Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, who chairs the regional body Ecowas, said the rebels were prepared to sign a ceasefire with the government.

This will be the mediators' third attempt to get the sides to reach a negotiated solution to the crisis.

The rebels had said on Tuesday that they did not believe President Laurent Gbagbo really wanted peace and that they had enough supplies to fight a two-year war to overthrow him.

Hungry

The BBC's correspondent in Bouake, Paul Welsh, says relief organisations in neighbouring Ghana are discussing what needs to be done to help.

In Bouake people are starting to go hungry, they have no money to buy food and prices have risen steeply.

Our correspondent says the rebels call Bouake their capital now and they mete out summary justice on anyone found looting or stealing.

Thousands have already fled the fighting

Refugees fleeing Bouake have told the BBC that rebel soldiers have committed human rights violations. They say people have been killed and beaten up and that houses have been burned and looted.

Mr Wade said there were still a number of problems that need to be overcome, but that he remained hopeful that peace could be achieved.

"There's still a stumbling block over where the rebels will be encamped after the hostilities cease," he said in an interview with the French news agency AFP in Paris.

"President Gbagbo wants them sent back to barracks, but they want to remain in town."

Angola

Under the Senegalese plan, a ceasefire and the encampment of the rebel troops would be followed by negotiations between the sides.

The rebels also complain that Angolan troops are fighting for the Ivorian Government and that this is a major obstacle to peace.

But the Ivorian authorities have denied any Angolan involvement on their side.

President Gbagbo told the BBC that there were no Angolan soldiers in Ivory Coast, but he said that the government troops used weapons bought from private companies in Angola.

"We bought weapons and ammunition in Angola at the beginning of the crisis, we paid for them, and they are now arriving," he said.

Angola has denied any involvement, despite several reports that Angolan troops and armoured vehicles were involved in the fighting in Daloa, which government forces retook on Tuesday.