problem with .htaccess

trying to enable php5 on my server for a variety of reasons.

my host says this:

“PHP 5 can be enabled in FastCGI/suexec mode. PHP 5 supports IonCube Loader and Zend Optimizer. Some PHP applications are not yet supported by PHP 5, so please consult your application’s documentation if you are unsure. Enabling PHP 5 will automatically create a file called /fcgi-bin/php5-fcgi in your site’s document root, do not delete this.

PHP 5 File Extensions Add “php” to this list to force PHP 5 for ALL of your site’s PHP files. Please use spaces to separate extensions in this list, do not use commas.”

Enabling this, and adding php to this, always results in a 403 error.

this is because of (i am guessing) my htaccess file, which then reads:

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

Action application/x-httpd-fastphp /fcgi-bin/php5-fcgi
AddType application/x-httpd-fastphp php5

—

The last two lines were clearly added by enabling php5 as removing them deselects php5 on my server.

the 403 error states i am unable to access /fcgi-bin/php5-fcgi/index.php – and that’s just when i try to access the site root.

any suggestions?