led war in Iraq which France opposed. France's biggest base in Africa is in the Red Sea state of Djibouti with 2,800 troops. France's most controversial deployment on the continent is currently in Ivory Coast, a former regional economic powerhouse sunk in civil war since a rebellion in September 2002. Tensions peaked last November when French troops retaliated after government forces bombed one of their bases by crippling the small Ivorian air force. Violent anti-French protests followed and thousands of French nationals fled the country. On Wednesday, Chirac said that he would withdraw French troops from Ivory Coast if African leaders, including the Ivorian government, asked him to do so. --More 2341 Local Time 2041 GMT