France to provide interim buffer force

French troops are to monitor a ceasefire that entered into effect at midnight on Thursday in Cote d'Ivoire until the arrival of a West African buffer force, according to the Ivorian and French authorities. "Today we are beginning the peace process," President Laurent Gbagbo said on Thursday night as he announced that the government had accepted the ceasefire agreement, signed earlier the same day by rebels occupying parts of northern, central and western Cote d'Ivoire. He said the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) - which has been mediating between the state and the rebels - would set up a buffer force. However, it would only be ready in about a week's time. "In the meantime, we've asked France to provide the buffer force," Gbagbo said. The French government, which has troops stationed in Cote d'Ivoire under a longstanding military agreement between the two countries, announced on Friday that it had agreed to provide the buffer force to monitor and safeguard the ceasefire. The buffer force will also allow for the restoration of state institutions in areas held by the rebels since the start of their insurgency on 19 September. Another aspect of its role will be to ensure the rebels' security until ECOWAS begins to disarm them, Gbagbo said. Humanitarian bodies have welcomed the ceasefire agreement. UNHCR Spokesman Ron Redmond said on Friday that that the agency hoped "for a return to normalcy as soon as possible so hundreds of thousands of displaced people can go home". He said that, for the time being, there was still "a sizeable displaced population that needs help, including nearly 1,000 refugees who have lost their homes in a campaign aimed at razing shantytowns in and around Abidjan". The refugees are in five temporary transit sites, while thousands of other displaced Ivorians and immigrants have found temporary housing with family and friends, Redmond said in Geneva. More than 200,000 people are estimated to have been displaced in Cote d'Ivoire over the past four weeks.