French peacekeepers start to pull back from key sites in Abidjan

French peacekeepers, who beefed up their presence in Cote d'Ivoire's main city Abidjan following unrest earlier this month, have started to pull back from key sites, including the city's airport, a French military spokesman said on Tuesday. France, which now has almost 5,000 peacekeepers in its former colony, took control of Abidjan airport on 6 November after violent protests erupted and helped evacuate thousands of foreigners fleeing unrest in the West African country. "We no longer have a visible military presence at the airport," French army spokesman Jacques Combarieu told IRIN. "The situation is returning to normal." Many African airlines have resumed commercial flights to Abidjan, but the daily Air France flights to Paris were still suspended on Tuesday. Combarieu said troops controlling the roundabout at the entrance to the airport had returned to nearby barracks. Peacekeepers who had been manning positions on the 200 km highway leading from Abidjan to the official capital Yamoussoukro, were returning to their former positions in rebel territory, he added. Cote d'Ivoire, the world's top cocoa producer, has been split into a government-controlled south and a rebel-held north since a failed coup against President Laurent Gbagbo in September 2002. Seven months of civil war followed until a ceasefire was signed in May 2003. But the Ivorian air force shattered this truce two weeks ago when it began bombing rebel strongholds. Its jets hit a French military base in the process, killing nine peacekeepers. Paris swiftly retaliated, destroying most of the Ivorian air force on the ground. That brought thousands of enraged citizens out onto the streets of Abidjan, attacking foreigners, looting homes and clashing with French peacekeepers. According to the latest figures from the French foreign ministry, almost 9,000 foreigners, most of them French, were evacuated from Cote d'Ivoire following the violence. The International Committee for the Red Cross said on Tuesday that it had treated almost 3,000 people in Abidjan during the week of unrest. Cote d'Ivoire's government said last week that 63 people had died in the Abidjan clashes and rebel leader, Guillaume Soro, said 85 people were killed earlier during two days of government air raids on rebel-held towns in the north. The French military spokesman said the pull-back operation would be completed in five days time. Paris drafted in about 1,000 troop reinforcements from neighbouring West African countries and France to help restore order to the streets of Abidjan, but it is not yet clear how long they will stay in Cote d'Ivoire, to reinforce the garrison of 4,000 soldiers previously stationed in the country.