Both the Ivorian government and rebels on Tuesday welcomed the United Nations arms embargo on the country as situation was reportedly calm in major cities.

"The president takes note of the UN decision and assures the United Nations, its member states and the friends of Cote d'Ivoirehe will do nothing to hinder the peace process," said a spokesman of President Laurent Gbagbo on the state television.

"He invites the UN to apply this resolution with the same rigorto the rebels, and immediately to begin the disarmament process included in the Marcoussis peace deal," said the spokesman.

Rebel leader Guillaume Soro also hailed the UN sanctions, but said President Gbagbo should step down.

"To allow the belligerents to build up their arms would be to invite them to war," said Soro in the northern city of Bouake. "The condition for us to be engaged in a democratic process leadingto elections in 2005 is the departure of Laurent Gbagbo from power."

The UN Security Council imposed an immediate arms embargo on the war-torn country on Monday to press its government and rebels to revive the long-stalled peace process.

The Ivorian government and the New Forces rebel signed the Marcoussis peace agreement near Paris in 2003, under which a government of national reconciliation was established in April that year. But the rebels later withdrew from the new government, leaving the peace process in deadlock.

In July 2004, with the help of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan,the two sides inked a new accord in Accra, Ghana, which provided for steps to revitalize the peace process, including legislative reforms and disarmament of the rebels. The accord has not yet beencarried out.

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said on Tuesday that there solution is "a success for international law under the auspices of the United Nations."

"It's an intense pressure, formal, unanimous and international on those who bear responsibility and who are tempted to fight so that they get back to the road to political dialogue," Barnier told the Europe I radio.

Cote d'Ivoire, a former French colony, was divided into the rebel-held north and the government-controlled south after a failed coup two years ago.

Conflicts flared up last week after nine French peacekeepers and one American relief worker were killed in bombardment by Ivorian warplanes on rebel sites and a French camp.

France retaliated by destroying the country's tiny air force. The reprisal sparked turmoil and violence against French and otherforeigners in the main Ivorian commercial city of Abidjan. About 5,000 Westerners have fled the country as well as over 10,000 nationals.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) also welcomed the UN arms embargo, saying "the decision of the UN Security Council is a step in the right direction."

"Hopefully, if we can return Cote d'Ivoire to peace and security very quickly, Cote d'Ivoire, like any other countries, can then go about to build its armed forces and acquire arms for legitimate purposes," said Mohammed Chambas, executive secretary of the 15-member west African bloc.

The UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) reported on Tuesday that the situation in Abidjan and other major cities is calm, and hate broadcasts that raised the specter of further ethnic violence have given way to calls for restraint and a return to work.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard told a press briefing in New York that commercial activities in that country have resumed and "life seems to be returning to its normal pace."

"National Radio and Television have been airing peace messages significantly different in tone and content to the ones we have been hearing of late," he said, adding that a high degree of uncertainty prevails on all sides.

The spokesman said that an increased presence of UN peacekeepers in Abidjan has contributed greatly to reassuring the local population and ensuring the security of evacuees.

Following a cease-fire in 2003, more than 10,000 French and UN peacekeepers were deployed to keep the two warring sides apart.

However, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said more than 10,000 Ivorian refugees have rushed to neighboring Liberia over the past 10 days.

"Ivorians are arriving in Liberia through at least 12 entry points along a 45 km stretch of relatively remote frontier, often crossing the border river in small canoes," UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said Tuesday in Geneva.

The main problem for both Ivorian refugees and the local Liberian community is a shortage of food, since Liberia is itself just coming out of 14 years of civil war, said Redmond.

The poor state of the roads and general lack of infrastructure in the area have hampered the delivery of food and assistance, he added.

"We strongly hope that a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire will prevent any further influx of Ivorians into Liberia and allow refugees to return home rapidly," he said.

Source: Xinhua