French PM eyes plan to pullout from Cote d'Ivoire by early 2007

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is hoping for a plan to bring home thousands of soldiers from Cote d'Ivoire ahead of elections set for the first half of 2007 in France, media reported on Tuesday.

Villepin was quoted as saying that he would discuss the planned pullout with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York on Friday, though his government had not yet worked out a timetable.

He would also hold consultations with the parties concerned in Cote d'Ivoire pending a decision on the withdrawal, according to the local media.

France has been expecting an early pullback of its troops from Cote d'Ivoire since President Laurent Gbagbo and New Forces rebel leader Gillaume Soro signed a peace deal on March 4 to end the four-year rift in the west African country.

There are 7,800 UN peacekeepers and 3,500 French soldiers serving along the so-called zone of trust to separate the government-ruled south from the rebel-held north in Cote d'Ivoire, which plunged into civil war following a failed coup to oust Gbagbo in September 2002.

The French Foreign Ministry declared the role of the international community to be "changed" one day after Gbagbo and Soro signed the deal in Ouagadougou, capital of neighboring Burkina Faso.

The Ouagadougou peace accord calls for the formation of a new government, the phase-out of the zone of trust and preparations for the presidential elections to be held on Oct. 31 under UN Security Council Resolution 1721.

Source: Xinhua