PARIS - France Friday urged Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to deliver on promises that it called a step in the right direction and called on him to do his utmost to restore peace after deadly riots. "We urge an end to the violence and the Tunisian president's commitments on this front have been positively noted," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said of Ben Ali's promises to bow out as leader in 2014, allow free media and order police to stop shooting protestors. "The steps the president announced go in the right direction and we hope they will be implemented," Valero said in a regular meeting with journalists. France is Tunisia's former colonial ruler.