The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously voted for the deployment of a 6,590-strong UN peacekeeping force in Cote d'Ivoire to provide support for its faltering peace process.

Resolution 1528 adopted by the 15-nation council stipulates that the force, which will also comprise a civilian component, will have an initial mandate of 12 months starting from April 4.

The resolution provides for a stopgap extension of the stay of French and West African nations' (ECOWAS) peacekeeping troops in Cote d'Ivoire for more than one month until April 4.

Currently, there are less than 2,000 ECOWAS peacekeepers in Cote d'Ivoire, supported by some 4,000 French troops. The United Nations has a small mission in the country to help build confidence between the foreign peacekeepers and the Ivory warring parties.

The ECOWAS troops and the UN mission will merge into the new UN force. The French troops will stay for some time at the expense of France.

Cote d'Ivoire, once a relatively stable nation in the war-ridden West Africa, was plunged into a civil war in September 2002.It embarked on a bumpy road to peace since January 2003, when a peace agreement was signed in France by the government and the rebels.

A government of national reconciliation was established in March 2003 and four months later the civil war was declared over. But the country remains split with the rebels holding the north and the former government force controlling the south.

After the adoption of Resolution 1528, Annan told the council that despite recent positive developments in the peace process, "there are some hard-line elements among the various Ivorian parties who remain determined to undermine the peace process."

"The international community must therefore provide support to those who are working to promote peace in Cote d'Ivoire," he stressed.

The establishment of a peacekeeping operation in Cote d'Ivoire "will send a clear message that the international community supports the Ivorian peace process and is determined to play its role in the maintenance of peace and security in Africa," he added.

The UN force, officially known as the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI), is to monitor the ceasefire in the country, help with the disarmament process, promote human rights, and help the Ivorian transitional government prepare for the general elections in 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2004)