Military

DATE=01/28/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=FRANCE / IVORY COAST (L-O)

NUMBER=2-298914

BYLINE=PAUL MILLER

DATELINE=PARIS

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: French President Jacques Chirac has called for Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo to respect a peace plan he and others agreed to last week in Paris. Paul Miller reports from the French capital.

TEXT: The French president said that the political agreement to end four-months of civil war in Ivory Coast was signed and sealed, and Mr. Gbagbo should see to it that it is respected.

/// CHIRAC ACT IN FRENCH, EST. AND FADE (ACT OF MARGINAL QUALITY) ///

Mr. Chirac said he was sure that would happen, and he hoped for an improvement in the situation in Ivory Coast, where there have been disturbances by government supporters upset about the agreement.

After returning to Ivory Coast from Paris, Mr. Gbagbo described the peace agreement as "proposals", contradicting the understanding of others at the talks -- representatives of France, the United Nations and political factions from Ivory Coast -- that the Paris negotiations ended in a concrete power-sharing agreement.

In his comments, Mr. Chirac said France was taking all necessary steps to protect its citizens in Ivory Coast. France has 25-hundred troops in the country and the foreign ministry has announced that increased security measures are being taken. (SIGNED)

NEB/PM/KL/RAE/FC