Dozens of people have been killed in Daloa since the Ivory Coast army retook the town from rebels, the human rights group Amnesty International has said.

Victims included people with Muslim names or citizens of neighbouring countries, according to the organisation which sent a fact-finding mission to the country.

Rebels still control much of the north of Ivory Coast

It said men in military uniforms carried out the killings in the town, on the front line of the conflict which is exacerbating long-standing tensions between the mainly Muslim north and the Christian south.

Amnesty said troops loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo may not actually have killed the people but they could be held responsible because they were in control of Daloa when the deaths occurred.

It said the bodies of more than 20 citizens of Mali had been identified.

The Ivorian Government has denied any army involvement in the killings.

Peace talks

Peace talks are scheduled to begin between the government and rebels for the first time on Wednesday in Togo, though President Gbagbo is insisting that talks would be possible only if the rebels laid down their weapons.

A truce has held for 11 days now.

Hundreds of people have died and thousands more have been driven from their homes in four weeks of fighting.

Troops from the former colonial power, France, have been acting as a buffer between the two sides.

Some 2,000 soldiers from eight West African countries are scheduled to arrive for peacekeeping duties within the next two weeks as Ivory Coast's neighbours work to calm the situation.

The violence began after a failed coup attempt against the Ivorian president.