Some allegedly bought digital cameras and mobile phones with the money and sent them to their families in France.

They are alleged to have stolen the equivalent of about $100,000 from the bank in the western town of Man.

They were part of a 4,000-strong French force sent to restore order in Ivory Coast after a rebellion began in 2002.

Six other French soldiers have been accused of stealing nearly $20,000 worth of local CFA francs from another branch of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in the rebel headquarters of Bouake last year.

'Tarnish'

The robbery in rebel-held Man came as banks throughout the eight countries of the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA) were in the process of replacing a 1992 series of banknotes with more secure bills.

The branch where the theft was recorded had been put under extra surveillance following a series of thefts from Ivorian banks in 2003.

"These soldiers profited from their assignment, protecting this bank branch, to rob it of these monies," said French military spokesman Colonel Henry Aussavy last year.

"We are dealing with these accusations very severely so that they do not tarnish the rest of our forces in the country," he added.

Officials said no force was used during the theft.

In addition to the French troops, there are also some 6,000 United Nations peacekeepers in Ivory Coast.