The UN Security Council held an emergency session on November 6 to condemn the attacks against French troops by the military of Cote d'Ivoire, which killed nine French peacekeepers.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan also attended the closed-door consultations called by French Ambassador to the world body Jean-Marc de la Sabliere.

Before heading into the meeting, de la Sabliere told reporters that a ninth French soldier had died of his wounds in the air strikes, which also killed one American relief worker and wounded over 20 French troops.

A presidential statement drafted by France and the United States condemns the attack on the French base near the northern Ivorian city of Bouake, which is controlled by the rebel New Forces.

It also demands an immediate end to all military operations and reiterated call on the government and the rebels to observe a ceasefire they signed more than one year ago.

Cote d'Ivoire was plunged into a civil war in September 2002 after a failed coup. The rebels and the government signed a peace agreement in France in early 2003. But the peace process has been staggering and the country remains divided, with the rebels holding its northern part.

France has some 4,000 peacekeepers in the West African nation, its former colony, which help monitor the truce along with 6,000 UN peacekeeping troops.

Source: Xinhua