By Loucoumane Coulibaly

ABIDJAN, May 10 (Reuters) - Foreign donors must deliver on their promises to help fund disarmament and elections in Ivory Coast this year or risk a breakdown in a peace process to reunite the country after civil war, the prime minister said.

Guillaume Soro told French radio political leaders were ready to hold presidential elections in the world's top cocoa grower on Nov. 30 as scheduled, but the country had yet to receive the promised international funding for this.

Foreign donors and investors are watching the build-up to the elections to see whether Ivory Coast, which was split in two by a 2002/2003 civil war, can regain the stability that once made it an oasis of prosperity in francophone West Africa.

During a visit last month, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced donors, including France, the European Union and Japan, were unblocking 27 million euros ($41.74 million) in aid to Ivory Coast to help organise the polls.

But Soro, speaking late on Friday after an meeting to review the peace process, said the funds had not yet been deposited in the treasury or handed to the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), the U.N. agency tasked with handling the donor money.

"Promises have been made and we're waiting for them to materialise," he told Radio France International in comments broadcast on Saturday.

Soro, leader of the New Forces rebels who seized control of the country's northern half in 2002, was made prime minister by President Laurent Gbagbo last year as a part of a peace plan seeking national reunification and elections.

He said international funding was also required to finance the disarmament and demobilisation of thousands of rebel and militia fighters and their rehabilitation into civilian life. Some will also be integrated into a new national army.

"So this is the moment for donors to be most flexible to allow Ivory Coast to advance irreversibly towards elections," Soro said. "Any hesitation by the international community could lead to tensions, the risk of a block in the process," he added.

Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group (ICG) last month said there had been little disarmament progress.

"If the Ivorian elections occur in a violent setting, or the results are contested, regional and wider efforts to resolve the crisis over the past six years will have been in vain. A successful outcome to the peace process is critical for the stability and economic future of all West Africa," ICG said.

It warned that pre-election manoeuvrings by Ivorian political leaders could still jeopardise the peace process.

Analysts say New Forces rebel commanders in the north still operate a "war economy" there, including illegal taxes on cocoa and cotton shipments, roadblock tolls and revenues from diamond sales. This was hindering efforts to reunify the country.

Soro said he recently met northern rebel chiefs, and "no one told me they opposed the peace process".

He appealed to politicians from both sides to show restraint in the run-up to the elections. "We've had five or six years to show how good we were in insulting each other," he said. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/) (Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Matthew Jones)

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