HELP!!!! UNICODE problem

Hello,

I am using postgresql and PHP to develop an application supporting
English/French/Arabic Data. I am using PHP5RC1 and Postgresql 7.4.2

When the user enters french caracters (é,è,...) I get the following error.

====================

Warning: pg_query() [function.pg-query]: Query failed: ERROR: invalid
byte sequence for encoding "UNICODE": 0xe96d61 in
/usr/local/apache2/htdocs/Classes/DBAdapter.class.php on line 27
====================

I managed to save my SQL string into a file. When open with vi, the file reads
==============
update classe set code='MATE',description='Mathématiques
Elémentaires',cycle='SEC',classesuperieure=NULL,info=NULL where code='MATE'
~
==============

whereas the command cat shows

==============
update classe set code='MATE',description='Math�matiques El�mentaires',cycle
='SEC',classesuperieure=NULL,info=NULL where code='MATE'
==============

I tried to figure out what to do; when I copy and paste the content of the
file into the "psql" tool, it works perfectly and I can see the accented
letters in my browser; whereas the psql's command "\i <filename>" generates
the same.

Any help would be appreciated

Regards
Dani Mezher