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United States Embassy (Abidjan)

Côte d'Ivoire: American Embassy's National Daily Press Review

13 July 2007

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This daily press review is compiled by the Information Section of the Public Affairs Office of the American Embassy in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

1. In the wake of Ivoirian authorities' decision to ask the United Nations to set up a commission to probe the June 29 attack against the Ivoirian Prime Minister, newspapers continue to speculate on the real motive and the brains behind the failed attempted coup.

2. "Attempted coup against Soro: Here are the four soldiers who were arrested," says a front-page story in Notre Voie, a daily close to the ruling FPI. A few days after the attack, comments the paper, "Investigators have received tip-off about who was behind the assassination attempt."

3. Citing reliable sources, the paper suggests that, "The peace agreement signed by President Laurent Gbagbo and News Forces' leader Guillaume Soro is yet to be accepted by all members of the ex-rebel movement and the civil society in the region, who see the act as betrayal on the part of Soro."

4. In a front-page story, Le Courrier d'Abidjan, a daily close to Gbagbo, tells readers that it gets information about "the real origins of the assassination attempt against Soro." The paper carries the full text of a story published by a Burkinabe newspaper, suggesting that, "The Ouagadougou agreement was the main reason behind the attack against the Presidential Jet carrying Soro."

5. "Soro is in danger," warns Le Matin d'Abidjan, another daily close to Gbagbo. The paper comments, "The decision by Soro to call for an international commission to probe the Bouake attack could result in boomerang effect." It points out that, "Soro's decision could serve as an opportunity for the families of those who were executed by the ex-rebellion during the armed strife to request for the same commission to dig into the killings of these people."

6. The state-owned daily, Fraternite Matin, carries a picture of the Ivoirian Security Minister, Desire Tagro, announcing what the paper calls "big changes within the National Police." One of the major changes, notes the paper, is "the nomination of a woman police commissioner, and this for the first ever, as the new director of the Police National School."

7. Speaking yesterday at the National School of Gendarmerie, the Ivoirian Defense Minister, Michel Amani N'Guessan, called on the Ivoirian Defence and Security Forces "to support the peace process," reports the paper.

8. In a front-page story, 24 Heures, a daily close to the opposition, describes changes in the army as "a cleansing". Regarding investigations into the Bouake attack, the paper discloses that, "French Secret Services have rounded up the dossier."

9. Carrying what it calls "exclusive news", Le Nouveau Reveil, a daily close to the ex-ruling PDCI-RDA, says, "A preliminary report on the Bouake assassination attempt has been submitted to the United Nations and Elysee." It alleges that the report "accuses" the ruling FPI party.

10. In a front-page story, Le Temps, a daily close to Gbagbo, tells readers that a few days after an assassination attempt that nearly killed Soro, "The ex-rebellion is being engulfed in in-fighting." According to the paper, "Kone Zacharia - a military commander of the New Forces - escaped death, as his house was attacked yesterday in Bouake."

11. The paper also announces that, "After the failed assassination attempt against Soro, President Gbagbo could be the next target." Le Temps also claims that it has uncovered what it calls, "Operation Gbagbo's Assassination."

12. As the peace torch ceremony -- designed to mark the beginning of the disarmament process in Cote d'Ivoire - is scheduled for July 30, 2007 in Bouake, L'inter, a privately-owned daily, reports that, "The militia groups operating in the west of this country are threatening to disrupt the ceremony, unless the Ivoirian authorities pay allowances they are to receive for disarming."

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