The UN Security Council on Tuesday renewed the mandate of a UN and French peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast for another six months to support democratic elections in the Western African nation.
The force was instructed to assist political parties in implementing agreements signed between President Laurent Gbagbo and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, which set new target dates for the completion of democratic reforms, including presidential elections in June, 2008.
The council plans to review the mandate of the force by July 30. It called on the political parties to implement reforms "fully and in good faith" within the amended time frame set out by their recent agreements, which ended years of conflicts.
The force is composed of more than 8,000 troops from more than two dozen countries. France contributed 185 troops to the force. ( Dpa )