The Ivory Coast has issued an arrest warrant against presidential candidate and former rebel leader Guillaume Soro. He is accused of undermining state authority and money laundering, Attorney General Richard Adou said on state television.
The 47-year-old led a rebellion in 2002 against the then president of the West African country, Laurent Gbagbo. Soro later became prime minister, defense minister and finally president of parliament. After a bloody civil war from 2010 to 2011, Soro helped today's head of state Alassane Ouattara to power. However, they quarreled, Soro resigned from the post of parliament president earlier this year and left the country.
Soro claims that his plane should be attacked
A few months ago, Soro announced his candidacy for the presidential election in October 2020. It is not yet clear whether President Ouattara will run for another term.
Critics are nevertheless convinced that the government has influenced the investigation against Soro. Undoubtedly, Ouattara is trying to use the judiciary to eliminate opponents in the election, criticized Alain Lobognon, a member of parliament and an ally of Soro. Government spokesman Sidi Touré, on the other hand, said the arrest warrant was a purely legal matter that the government did not interfere with.
"M. Soro nous venons de recevoir une alerte grave de sécurité sur l'aéroport d'Abidjan notre avion pourrait faire l'objet d'un assaut. »
Je n'en crois pas mes oreilles. Que se passe t'il? Pour m'arrêter on a point besoin d'un assaut. Me @AffoussyBL est là pour les formalités.
Soro actually wanted to return home from exile on Monday. In the air, however, he learned that his plane should be attacked when landing in the economic metropolis of Abidjan, Soro tweeted on Tuesday. The plane then landed in Ghana.
The Ivory Coast with its approximately 25 million inhabitants was a French colony and gained independence in 1960. The country is the largest exporter of cocoa.
