By Loucoumane Coulibaly

ABIDJAN, March 30 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's opposition has welcomed the appointment of rebel leader Guillaume Soro as prime minister and the political novice must now show he can stand his ground against President Laurent Gbagbo, local analysts said.

Gbagbo named Soro, head of the New Forces which seized the country's north in a 2002-2003 civil war, as premier on Thursday to cement a peace accord signed this month in Burkina Faso which called for the organisation of elections within 10 months.

Soro, 34, is due to name a cabinet to tackle such thorny issues as disarmament and voter identification on the road to a presidential election delayed since 2005 in the world's biggest cocoa exporter.

The "G7" opposition group, which includes the New Forces as well as the former ruling Democratic Party (PDCI) and ex-prime minister Alassane Ouattara's Rally of the Republicans, expressed its "firm support" for Soro on Friday.

"The leadership of the G7 invites the people of the Ivory Coast to support the prime minister for the success of his mission and the reconstruction of our country," G7 spokesman Alphonse Djedje Mady said in a statement on Friday.

The president of Gbagbo's ruling Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), Pascal Affi N'Guessan, said Soro's appointment had resolved the political crisis in the former French colony.

Some foreign analysts have suggested the centre-left alliance between Soro and long-time Socialist Gbagbo was a blow to the centre-right opposition and strengthened the president's likelihood of re-election in the post-war poll.

Local analysts fear Soro, who has no political experience, may struggle to push controversial reforms past Gbagbo who hobbled the previous government of U.N.-backed premier Charles Konan Banny.

"This accord was approved very quickly ... We ask ourselves what deal is there behind this and how can Soro overcome a very formidable Gbagbo who wants to conserve his power," said one politician with a major party, who asked not to be identified. "It will be very difficult for him. He is playing with his political future. If he fails, the 'rebel' badge will stick to him forever."

By accepting the premiership, Soro bowed out of standing for president in the coming poll under a U.N. Security Council ruling preventing the transitional prime minister from running.

The peace process has led to the creation of a joint army command to demobilise militia fighters. It foresees the dismantling of a U.N.-manned buffer zone between the warring factions and the withdrawal of French troops.

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