US U-turn on Ivorian peace force

Some 4,000 French troops are in Ivory Coast

The United States has reversed its opposition to sending some 6,000 United Nations peacekeepers to Ivory Coast, says its UN ambassador John Negroponte.

He said that the administration had asked Congress to authorise the move.

Kofi Annan had asked the UN to replace some 4,000 French troops and 1,000 West African peacekeepers in Ivory Coast.

The US had argued that the force was too large and risked legitimising a division of the country between government and rebel-held areas.

The US pays 27% of the UN's peacekeeping budget and correspondents say the force is likely to be approved on 27 February, when the mandate of the current UN team and the French and African peacekeepers expires.

'Win-win situation'

The US U-turn was welcomed by the News forces former rebels.

"We are pleased with the decision and pleased that the United States has recognized the need for peacekeepers," New Forces spokesman Sidiki Konate told the AFP news agency.

Ethnic hatred in western Ivory Coast

"The United Nations wins, but also the Ivory Coast wins and that is the most important thing."

A power-sharing government is in place but the country remains split, with the former rebels controlling the largely Muslim north.

Forces loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo hold the mostly Christian and animist south.

The peacekeepers are patrolling a buffer zone separating the two forces.