United States Embassy (Abidjan)
28 August 2008
This daily press review is compiled by the Information Section of the Public Affairs Office of the American Embassy in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
Reports in today's newspapers in Cote d'Ivoire said that five Ministers will be called before a magistrate following the coffee-cocoa scandal. According to local papers, the Bedie visit in Katiola - in the rebel held zone - was another success. Dailies also reported on the Democratic Party convention in the United States of America.
1. Fraternite Matin (a state-owned daily): A prominent story on the front page of this paper said that five Ministers (Economy and Finance - Agriculture - Policy Strategy - National Reconciliation - Animal Resources) will be called before magistrates on Monday. The paper said that President Gbagbo is conducting this audit of the coffee and cocoa industry for good governance purposes. Still on the same topic, L'Inter (an independent daily) quotes Mr. Bouabre, Minister of Policy Strategy, ,as saying that they (the cited Ministers) have hired lawyers for their defense. L'intelligent d'Abidjan (an independent daily) claims to know in a banner headline that the investigation of the Ministers will differ from the previous sessions the Judges have conducted for the heads of the coffe and cacao control and regulation organizations in June. The paper said that Ministers will be questioned either at their office, at their residence, at a hotel or in another private space.
2. Reporting on the Bedie (President of the Democratic Party - PDCI) tour in the rebel held zone, Le Nouveau Reveil (a daily close to the former ruling party) told readers that the Katiola meeting was a success. For the paper the extraordinary mobilization of the population was a good indication of their support for Bedie and the PDCI.
3. Le Patriote (a daily close to the opposition) carried a banner headline saying that the Ivorian Prime Minister, Soro Guillaume, met in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso with Mr. Kone Zakaria, former Commandant of the Zeguela zone (Central-West), who the Prime Minister deposed for insubordination some months ago. The paper reported that Mr. Kone told the Prime Minister of his desire to be reintegrated into the Forces Nouvelles army.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
4. L'Intelligent d'Abidjan (an independent daily) released the fourth in a series of "postal cards" sent by its correspondent who is in the US to cover the Democratic Party's convention in Denver. "Obama resurrects President Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King" reported the paper. The correspondent notes that the date of August 28, 2008 marks the anniversary of the historic and famous speech (I Have a Dream) Dr. King gave forty years ago, and also comments that Obama is from the same state as President Lincoln. L'Inter (an independent daily) carried a picture of Mrs. Clinton waiving to the Democratic activists, quoting her as saying: "Obama is my candidate; you should vote for Obama". The paper released another story questioning whether the risk of an assassination of Mr. Barak Obama has been cleared. For the paper the Chicago 1968 rally is still vivid in the Democrats' memories as well as the recent threat of death in Miami. On August 27, the same paper and Soir Info (an independent daily) published reports on arrests related to a possible assassination attempt at the convention.
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