ABIDJAN, Dec 16 (AFP) - Ivory Coast Security Minister Martin Bleou announced Thursday that UN and national military troops would soon be conducting joint patrols around the commercial capital Abidjan.
"UN military officials have reiterated their support for these joint patrols," Bleou said over state radio.
"We welcome this collaboration, which will help reinforce security for people and their property, both in Abidjan and other cities."
Abidjan, once one of Africa's most modern and sophisticated cities, was hard hit by a week of riots in early November unleashed after France wiped out the Ivorian air force in retaliation for a strike on a camp in the rebel-held north that left nine peacekeepers dead.
Hundreds of homes and businesses were looted or damaged in the unrest that sent some 8,000 French and other foreign nationals fleeing, many of whom had lived in Ivory Coast, once France's star colony in west Africa, for decades.
Bleou's announcement followed an official request to the UN Security Council by Secretary General Kofi Annan to boost the resources and troop capacity of the UN operation, known by its French acronym ONUCI.
In his report Tuesday, Annan said the 6,240-strong UN force found itself "strained to the limit" during the riots, and asked the council to authorize an additional infantry battalion of 850 troops, along with eight attack and light helicopters, and hundreds more police and support personnel.
UN and Ivorian military officials including ONUCI force commander Abdoulaye Fall of Senegal and Defense Minister Rene Amani met Wednesday to discuss "security issues" with Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, official sources said, without elaborating.
12/16/2004 15:43 GMT - AFP