ABIDJAN, Aug 6 (Reuters) - A French peacekeeper in Ivory Coast shot a protester at close range with a rubber bullet, injuring him on Monday when a hostile crowd surrounded a military convoy in Abidjan, a French army spokesman said.

The soldier fired a warning shot to disperse the crowd staging a protest unrelated to the controversial presence of the French force, then fired a rubber bullet at a protester who was threatening him, Lieutenant Colonel Xavier Pons said.

"He fired on the individual who was trying to attack him. The individual was injured and has been taken to a clinic. His condition isn't believed to be serious," Pons told Reuters by telephone. He said the convoy withdrew after the incident.

"It was a measured response in conformity with our rules of engagement," he said, adding the French force would offer to pay the man's medical expenses. The confrontation took place near the French military headquarters in the main city Abidjan.

The French force, currently 2,900, backs up a larger United Nations peacekeeping mission in the West African state which has been divided in two since a 2002-2003 civil war in which the rebel New Forces seized the country's northern half.

Supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo have previously accused the French army of backing the rebels and seeking to oust him. Around 8,000 mainly-French ex-patriates fled the country amid anti-French riots in November 2004, during which French soldiers shot dead several protesters.

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