Ivory Coast's former rebel leader Ibrahim Coulibaly said yesterday that rebel fighters would be prepared to lay down their arms if the strife-torn west African state were to be placed under UN supervision.

In a commentary published in today’s edition of the French newspaper Le Monde, Coulibaly said: "What can be done? In my opinion, we urgently need to end this futile standoff between the former rebellion and the regime, which has reduced France to the role of powerless arbiter.

"That will only be possible if the United Nations becomes more involved in the process of national reconstruction," he wrote.

"That's why I'm saying today that the new forces (ex-rebels) would agree to lay down their weapons if Ivory Coast, like Kosovo, were placed under UN supervision and administration".

In addition to spearheading Ivory Coast's December 1999 coup, Coulibaly was one of the driving forces behind a rebellion launched in September last year that split the country into two and crippled its cocoa-based economy.

He was arrested in France in August this year on suspicion of plotting a fresh coup against the government of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, but released the following month.

Coulibaly said he was sure Gbagbo would reject the rebels' new offer "in the name of national sovereignty. But at least we can no longer be accused of wanting power for power's sake alone".

The former rebel leader said disarmament could not take place until the international community could offer the so-called "new forces" guarantees that a French-brokered peace deal signed in January would be fully implemented.

The deal allowed Gbagbo to remain in office until scheduled elections in 2005, but devolved some of his power to the new government of national unity, which in addition to the rebels includes members of the political opposition. – Sapa-AFP.