FRENCH SOLDIERS PATROL IN THE AREA OF THE CENTRAL IVORY COAST TOWN OF SAKASSOU, 2003-08-29 (photo)

French soldiers patrol in the central Ivory Coast area of Sakassou August 29, 2003 after two French soldiers were killed in a firefight on Monday in the war-divided West African nation. The deaths were the first combat fatalities suffered by some 4,000 French troops since they deployed to the former French colony last year during a civil war. The war has since been declared over but rebels still hold the north of the country and the government the south. French and West African soldiers patrol weapons-free zones in the middle to separate the combatants. /Luc Gnago