Pro-Ouattara militia leader killed in Côte d'Ivoire

Pro-Ouattara militia leader killed in Côte d'Ivoire

2011-04-29 06:54:18 GMT+7 (ICT)

ABIDJAN, COTE D'IVOIRE (BNO NEWS) -- Forces of President Alassane Ouattara killed a militia leader who helped Ouattara win office in Côte d'Ivoire, a defense ministry spokesman said Thursday.

CNN reported that Capt. Leon Alla Kouakou said Ibrahim Coulibaly was killed Wednesday in a pro-Ouattara neighborhood in Abidjan after he refused to disarm. He was the leader of the "invisible commando," a militia that played an important role in ousting President Laurent Gbagbo's regime.

Earlier this week, Coulibaly said he was ready to disarm his 5,000 men, after Ouattara ordered all militias to lay down their weapons. Coulibaly, however, had a longstanding rivalry with current Defense and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, stemming from their collaboration in a 2002 rebellion that divided the country. Coulibaly's spokesman, Ben Rasoul, accused Soro of plotting to kill the rebel leader.

Two weeks after Gbagbo's capture, militia leaders who pledged their support to Ouattara have been fighting among themselves. CNN reported that fighting was still taking place Thursday in some pro-Gbagbo neighborhoods.

Côte d'Ivoire has been in turmoil since early December when outgoing President Gbagbo, who was defeated in the November run-off elections by opposition candidate Ouattara, refused to step down despite the approval from the UN and the international community.

As many as 1 million residents fled Abidjan and hundreds were killed due to the violence between both sides. UN officials warned that ethnic tensions stemming from national, racial and religious affiliation linked to the opposing camps could lead to genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing.

The 2010 presidential elections were meant to be the culminating point in reunifying a country split by civil war in 2002 into a Government-controlled south and a rebel-held north.


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