Peacekeepers accused of bank robbery

A dozen French peacekeepers have been arrested on suspicion of robbing a bank they had been ordered to guard in the Ivory Coast’s rebel territory.

The French soldiers are accused of robbing a bank in the western Ivory Coast town of Man, said

About €99,700 was taken from the bank in Man, said French military spokesman Jacques Combarieu.

The 12 were flown back to France today, where they were expected to be arraigned.

Ivory Coast a former French colony, is the world’s leading cocoa producer and a long-time West African economic hub. It remains divided between rebel-held north and west and government-held south following a coup attempt in September 2002.

France has about 4,000 troops in Ivory Coast, backing up a UN peace force building to 6,000 members.