New Caledonia votes to stay in France

The Pacific islands of New Caledonia opted to remain part of France yesterday, early results showed, as voters rejected independence in a closely-watched referendum seen as a measure of support for Paris in one of its many strategic outposts.

Some 18,000 kilometres from the French mainland, New Caledonia is home to a quarter of the world's known supplies of nickel -- a vital electronics component -- and is a foothold for France in the Pacific.

With 70 percent of voting slips counted, 59.5 percent of people had rejected the proposition that New Caledonia become independent, the local electoral authority said.

Some 175,000 people were eligible to vote in the remote islands fringed by spectacular beaches, with opinion polls ahead of yesterday's ballot predicting a large majority in favour of staying French.

But there are fears the referendum could inflame tensions between indigenous Kanak people, who tend to favour independence, and the white population which has settled since France annexed the islands in 1853.

These differences caused ethnic strife in the 1980s which claimed more than 70 lives. It led to the 1998 Noumea Accord which paved the way for a steady devolution of powers as well as yesterday's referendum.