ABIDJAN -- Two armed men on Saturday burst into the offices of the Ivorian Human Rights Movement (MIDH) in Ivory Coast's biggest city, Abidan, beating up a staff worker and raiding the offices, an MIDH member said.

Two youths brandishing pistols went to the offices at around 08:00 A.M. (0800 GMT), finding a lone rights activist in his 60s on the premises, the member told AFP by telephone.

They threatened the retired man, beating him and forcing him to open cupboards full of files, some of which they took away with them while leaving others strewn all over the floor.

The victim said that his attackers accused the MIDH of building up false cases about alleged "victims of atrocities" and of being opposed to a national reconciliation process underway to end seven months of insurgency.

The West African country has been divided in two since September, when rebels launched an uprising and seized control of the north, while two more rebel movements emerged in the west late in November.

Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, appointed in the wake of a French-brokered peace settlement, on Thursday chaired his first cabinet meeting attended by rebel members who have been given government posts.

The MIDH has acquired a reputation for denouncing rights violations since the beginning of the insurrection on September 19, and has been particularly critical of the activities of alleged government "death squads" operating in Abidjan.