Fatou Bamba is sweating ferociously and purple eyeshadow is leaking down her face, but she doesn't care. She's disgusted with the president and wants everyone to know. "[Ivorian President Laurent] Gbagbo is no longer the president!" she screams. "The United Nations can't impose Gbagbo on us."

Ms. Bamba joined thousands voicing their anger with President Gbagbo Sunday at an opposition rally organized to protest the lack of elections that had been scheduled to take place that day. The festive atmosphere and chants of "Goodbye, Gbagbo, goodbye" turned gradually more caustic as the morning wore on, and by the end, the crowd was chanting "Gbagbo, assassin, Gbagbo, thief."

But regardless of the heated rhetoric, the Africa Union has extended Gbagbo's mandate for up to 12 months or until elections can be held. And the UN Security Council endorsed the plan, urging the government to appoint a prime minister acceptable to both sides as soon as possible. Gbagbo says a new prime minister would be appointed "in a few days," but vowed to stay in power until elections could be held.

But the New Forces rebels, who've controlled the north of the country since fighting broke out in 2002, refuse to recognize Gbagbo's authority and have named their own leader, Guillaume Soro, as prime minister. More than 10,000 French and UN troops patrol a zone between the northern rebels and the pro-government militias.

Many observers in this West African nation that was once known for its stability now fear that violent clashes in the commercial capital Abidjan could lead to fresh fighting. In this tense atmosphere, one man, perhaps more than any other is likely to shape the course of events - for better or worse - in the next few days.

Charles Blé Goudé is the leader of the Young Patriots, a group of youths he could whip into a pro-Gbagbo frenzy at a rally of his own Tuesday. Indeed, his calls for supporters to take to the streets have paralyzed Abidjan at various points during the three-year crisis.

Mr. Goudé's acid speeches and booming baritone voice have earned him solid support among Abidjan's loyalist youth who support Gbagbo and are increasingly fed up with an influx of northern Ivorians and immigrants into the country's south, including Abidjan.

Goudé's success has led him to capitalize on his image as a tough-talking militant. He was named a "man of the year" in 2004 by the pro-government Notre Voie (Our Way) newspaper and has released a CD of speeches, titled "A Message of Hope" that is sold at one of Abidjan's swankiest mini-malls.

While he says his movement is non-violent (he says he's borrowed from the leadership styles of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi), others say his rhetoric has exacerbated the problems and led to outbreaks of violence that have compromised the fragile peace process.

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