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


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United States Embassy (Abidjan)

25 September 2007
Posted to the web 25 September 2007

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. News reports say supporters of Ibrahim Coulibaly -- a former Sergeant in the Ivoirian National Army, former Forces Nouvelles military officer, and arch-rival of Prime Minister Soro Guillaume - have been arrested. Laurent Gbagbo's visit to New York to attend the UN General Assembly's meeting, and the first political rally organized by former Ivoirian leader Henri Konan Bedie last weekend, are also subject of front-page stories in the press. Meanwhile, the relaunch of the audiences foraines (public hearings to issue birth certificates to residents without identity documents), which are officially scheduled to begin today in Cote d'Ivoire, is the major event in today's dailies.

2. A banner headline in Le Front, a daily close to the New Forces, announces that, "The public identity hearings are set to begin this morning." According to the paper, the announcement was made yesterday by the Justice and Human Rights Minister, Mamadou Kone, after a meeting between the Prime Minister, Guillaume Soro and members of a working group overseeing the program.

3. The paper quotes the minister as saying, "We've adopted a consensual and final modus operandi on how the program should be organized." According to Le Front, "The public identity hearings will start today in Ouaragahio - the village of the head of State Laurent Gbagbo - and in Ferkessedougou - the village of Soro." The Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, Robert Beugre Mambe, is reported as saying, "The commission is not involved in the public identity hearings."

4. "The public identity hearings begin," writes Fraternite Matin, a state-owned daily. According to the paper, "Gbagbo assured the UN Secretary General that the program will be successfully conducted." Gbagbo, reports the paper, met with Ban Ki-Moon in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly meetings.

5. In a related development, Fraternite Matin quotes Boureima Badini Special Representative of the President Blaise Compaore in Cote d'Ivoire as saying, "The public identity hearings will begin tomorrow (today). Then the identification program will follow. The elections could be held before October 2008 provided that all these programs are conducted successfully."

6. As the public identity hearings begin today, Notre Voie, a daily close to the ruling FPI party, tells readers "what measures have been put in place to counter any fraud." The paper notes that, "The public identity hearings are an important step in the peace process, and therefore should not be subject to any manipulation."

7. Notre Voie warns that, "Whoever tries to make a false statement in a bid to acquire identity papers will be punished according to the law." The paper also reminds Ivoirians that, "Each Ivoirian should bear in mind that the credibility of the general elections is the backbone of the peace process and can be only guaranteed through the transparency of the public identity hearings."

8. While preparations are underway for the upcoming presidential elections in Cote d'Ivoire, Le Nouveau Reveil predicts "an outright victory for the Ivoirian former President Henri Konan Bedie." The paper close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA party, suggests that, "Ivoirians have rekindled hope, in the wake of the rally of Bedie last weekend in Dabou."

9. Meanwhile, Le Temps tells a different story. The daily close to Gbagbo accuses the former Ivoirian leader of "tribalism." According to the paper, "Bedie has incited the Baoule ethnic group to revolt."

10. In another development, 24 Heures, a daily close to the opposition, alleges that "ten supporters of Ibrahim Coulibaly were arrested in Danane in western Cote d'Ivoire and in Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Faso." The paper publishes a statement issued in Abidjan by the cabinet of Ibrahim Coulibaly.

Relevant Links

West Africa
Côte d'Ivoire
Press and Media

11. Finally, a banner headline in Nord-Sud Quotidien, a daily close to the opposition, says that, "Many vehicles have been destroyed in Plateau - Abidjan's commercial center --, as disabled people went on rampage." The protest, reports the paper, was to draw Ivoirian authorities' attention on what the disabled called "discrimination they have suffered from," reports the paper.


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