Gbagbo says France arrogant towards Ivory Coast

PARIS, Mar 9 (Reuters) Ivory Coast's President Laurent Gbagbo today criticised France for taking an arrogant attitude towards its former colony but stopped short of calling for French troops to be withdrawn from the country.

In an interview with Le Figaro newspaper, he said French soldiers have become among the most unpopular peacekeepers in the Ivory Coast after incidents that have soured relations between the two countries.

''When we listen to people talking about our problems, there is so much arrogance sometimes,'' he said.

''In this case I'm talking about Paris. We are poorer...We are certainly less powerful. But that doesn't mean that certain countries should think they know our country better than us.'' Relations between Paris and Ivory Coast -- once the jewel in the crown of French decolonisation in West Africa and a regional economic powerhouse -- have been tense since the start of a civil war in 2002.

Gbagbo said military accords between the two countries would have to be reviewed when the political crisis was over.

But asked if French troops should be withdrawn, he said: ''I didn't say that. That's part of everything we have to look at when I say that Franco-Ivorian links must be reviewed.'' The country is still split in two, with some 4,000 French troops and 7,000 UN peacekeepers manning a buffer zone between the rebel north and government-controlled south. The government has often accused France of being too soft on the rebels.

In November 2004, some 8,000 mostly French nationals fled the country after anti-French riots in the main city Abidjan. The protests were sparked when France crippled Ivory Coast's air force in retaliation for a government bombing raid in the north that killed nine French peacekeepers.

Relations were further strained by the killing of an Ivory Coast man by French peacekeeping troops last year. President Jacques Chirac has said the man's death was a mistake.

''Before France was on our side, the French army was welcomed everywhere,'' Gbagbo said. ''Today, people are worried every time they stick their noses into something. The French army has become very unpopular and it's being blamed for everything bad.'' REUTERS SHR ND1642