ABIDJAN, Jan. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Cote d'Ivoire's ruling party, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), announced on Tuesday that it was pulling out of the current peace process mediated by the United Nations.

    The party was also quitting the transitional government and asked President Laurent Gbagbo to restart a peace process "on an autonomous and indigenous basis," said a statement signed by party chairman Pascal Affi N'Guessan.

    "The FPI announces its withdrawal from the peace process and refuses any longer to back the recolonization process engaged under the aegis of the United Nations," said the statement.

    It "decides to put an end to its collaboration and support for any body put in place in this framework, notably the government" and wants "a national liberation government consisting of all patriotic forces."

    The party called for the withdrawal of more than 7,000 UN troops and 4,000 French soldiers, who have been patrolling cease-fire lines between the north of the west African country which is in rebel hands, and the south, controlled by the government army.

    The FPI urged Gbagbo "to immediately take the necessary steps to see the country rid of foreign occupation and to engage the peace and National Reconciliation process on an autonomous and indigenous basis."

    Also on Tuesday, Cote d'Ivoire's rebel forces reiterated their support for the transitional government led by Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, who was installed last month with reinforced powers under a UN peace plan.

    They accused the FPI of attempting to overthrow the government and undermining the country's stability, and called on the United Nations and other international organizations to find a complete solution to the current political crisis.

    In New York, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday urged all parties in Cote d'Ivoire to end on-going violence directed against the United Nations in protest at a proposed disbanding of parliament and to bring peace to this conflict-stricken country.

    Violent protests erupted after an international working group charged with overseeing the latest UN peace plan in Cote d'Ivoire recommended on Sunday that the parliament's mandate which expired on Dec. 16 last year should not be renewed.

    Cote d'Ivoire slid into a civil war after a foiled coup in September 2002, with rebels holding the country's north and part of the west. A string of peace deals have failed to unite the country and the presidential and parliamentary elections due last October were postponed. Enditem