Ivory Coast President Ouattara meets predecessors in reconciliation drive
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Loading... - Yvanna Ewane
- 31 Aug 2022
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Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara held a rare meeting on Thursday with his predecessors and longtime rivals Laurent Gbagbo and Henri Konan Bedie in an effort to reconcile the West African nation ahead of elections in 2025.
The three men have dominated Ivory Coast's fractious political scene since the 1990s. Bedie was president from 1993 until his ouster in a 1999 coup. Gbagbo governed from 2000 until his election defeat to Ouattara in 2010.
Tensions came to a head most dramatically after the 2010 election. Gbagbo refused to concede defeat, leading to a brief civil war that killed about 3,000 people before rebel forces aligned with Ouattara swept into the main city Abidjan.
Gbagbo was sent to The Hague to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court. He was acquitted in 2019 and returned to Ivory Coast last year.
The former adversaries met for private talks at the presidential palace in Abidjan. In a brief statement afterwards, Ouattara said it was good to hear the point of view of former presidents and that he would aim to meet them regularly.
"The President of the Republic and his two predecessors have expressed their desire to make this first meeting a starter for the easing of the national socio-political climate in Ivory Coast," said Gbagbo, acting as spokesman after the meeting. Read More...
