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France withdraws from allied north Iraq watch 06:40 a.m. Dec 27, 1996 EST

PARIS, Dec 27 (Reuter) - France said on Friday it was withdrawing from an allied air reconnaissance operation over the Kurdistan area of northern Iraq in which it has participated since the 1991 Gulf War.

A foreign ministry statement said France would however continue to take part in a similar air watch over southern Iraq with U.S. and British aircraft.

The statement said Paris was withdrawing from the Kurdistan operation, dubbed ``Provide Comfort,'' because it would not longer contain a humanitarian aspect.

An official Iraqi newspaper, anticipating the French decision, wrote on Friday: ``The French move would enhance ties...with Iraq not only on the political level, but by boosting comprehensive relations that both sides are willing to bring back to their past (pre-Gulf War) level.

``The French move would lead the world to drive the fact that the activities of the 'Hammer Force' are illegal,'' said al-Thawra, organ of the ruling Baath party.

Paris, eager to help exploit Iraqi oil resources, has courted Baghdad and pressed for an end to United Nations trade sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The White House in Washington had said on Wednesday it was confident Paris would continue to take part in the operation, aimed at barring Iraqi flights from the area.

The Turkish foreign ministry said the same day that France had raised objections to the operation as it was being reorganised from the start of next year.

The French withdrawal was expected to add to an increasing list of disagreements between Paris and Washington which has led to sharp exchanges between officials of the two countries.

France and the United States have been at odds this month over the U.S. command of NATO forces in southern Europe, French objections to the appointment of U.N. Secretary-General-elect Kofi Annan and a perceived diplomatic snub of outgoing Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

The new patrols are a follow-on to Operation Provide Comfort, whose mandate runs out on December 31. The Turkish parliament voted on Wednesday to let the new patrols begin on January 1 from a base in Turkey.

Allied aircraft have been shielding Iraq's ethnics Kurds from Iraqi aircraft north of the 36th parallel since a failed Kurdish uprising at the end of the Gulf War. The operation has been based at Incerlik Air Base in Turkey.

France has supplied about half a dozen planes to the northern Iraq contingent of some 50 aircraft.

It temporarily halted its flights in September after the United States fired 44 cruise missiles against targets in the south to punish President Saddam Hussein for moving Iraqi ground troops into a Kurdish enclave north of the 36th parallel.