French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday that France wanted a United Nations peacekeeping force to replace French forces deployed in Mali by April, incorporating troops offered by West African nations. The force would support the stabilization of Mali after the French-Malian offensive and "help Malians to refound their country" with a "national pact" to end longstanding rivalry. France has said it will start reducing its 4,000 military force in Mali in March and said it would take several weeks to complete planning for a UN force and to pass a Security Council resolution setting it up.