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United States Embassy (Abidjan)

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

18 January 2008

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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.

Today, the Ivorian press reported on the arrest of people charged with plotting against the state and the selection of an Ivorian national as the new governor of the West African States Central Bank.

1. Fraternite Matin (a state-owned daily) carried a front-page story, which said that authorities in Cote d'Ivoire have charged people with "plotting against the state." According to the paper, an announcement about these charges was made yesterday during a press conference in Abidjan by the state prosecutor, Tchimou Raymond Fehou. Ten people including two French nationals, three Ivorians, four Malians, one Gambian, have been reportedly arrested and detained in a prison in Abidjan, pending further investigations. The paper said that though the prosecutor refused to reveal the names of those arrested, the paper intimated that a well informed source identified one of the French nationals as Paul Nay, a 31-year-old journalist and the other one is a 43-year-old businessman with dual citizenship (French and Ivorian), who is based in Abidjan.

2. Fraternite Matin also credited an unnamed official source on the report that Nay, one of the Frenchmen arrested was nabbed on December 27, 2008 right in front of the office of RTI - Cote d'Ivoire National Television in Abidjan - where he was waiting to watch an episode of a live scenario of a coup-d'Etat. The paper also quoted the state prosecutor as saying that the journalist was arrested together with an Ivorian, who was "holding a gun." According to the paper, the prosecutor said that the investigation that was carried out by state intelligence (counter-espionage) led to the discovery of "video tapes and other items that are serving for a criminal case."

3. In a related development, Fraternite Matin recalled that about ten days ago, Cote d'Ivoire's military prosecutor, Colonel Ange Kessi, opened a case against exiled former sergeant Ibrahim Coulibaly, aka IB, who is accused of plotting a coup. The paper also indicated that in late December last year, the New Forces [the former Ivorian movement] accused IB of trying to stage a coup by launching "simultaneous attacks on Bouake [New Forces stronghold] and the country's capital Abidjan on December 27."

4. L'inter (a privately-owned daily): The paper carried excerpts of a video entitled: "Coup d'Etat of IB: How IB plans to seize power?" According to the paper, the nearly 40 minutes video explains how "The coup that IB and his acolytes have been accused of preparing against state institutions."

5. Meanwhile, Le Rebond (a daily close to the opposition), questioned the credibility of these videos. The paper commented that "since late December 2007, a purported coup attempt masterminded by Sergeant Ibrahim Coulibaly has become a major issue in the Ivorian media. In an attempt to prove the truth, detractors of IB have produced a film as evidence. Nevertheless, the quality and authencity are in doubt."

6. 24 Heures (a daily close to the opposition) reported that West African leaders meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso picked Philippe-Henri Dakoury-Tabley, an Ivorian, as the new governor of the West African States Central Bank, instead of the Ivorian Minister for Planning and Development, Paul Antoine Bouabre, a man who was widely believed to get the job. According to the paper, "This decision was a big blow for Gbagbo." The paper suggested that Bouabre lost the battle because he was not the right man. The paper also believed that the position of the governor of the bank has now become rotating, and hence after six years, Cote d'Ivoire will lose the post.

7. "The rotation will begin in six years," Fraternite Matin quoted the Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore as saying. Reacting after the election of Philippe-Henri Dakoury-Tabley, a 60-year banker, as the new governor of the West African Bank Gbagbo said: "I'm happy that Cote d'Ivoire has secured the post," reported the paper.

8. In a separate development, Sidiki Konate, the spokesperson of the New Forces was quoted by Fraternite Matin as saying that "5,000 ex-combatants from the New Forces will join the new army in Cote d'Ivoire."

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