Bombardment of Bouaké: General Poncet, leader of the Licorne force, at the helm
General Henri Poncet in 2012. AFP - FRANCOIS GUILLOT
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
At the Bouaké bombing trial on Friday April 9, the Paris Assize Court began hearing General Henri Poncet, head of the Licorne force.
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With our special correspondent at the Paris courthouse,
Laura Martel
His first words are for the victims: "
I hope that I could provide the answers they have been waiting for for 17 years
", indicates General Poncet, before unfolding the questions himself.
"
First of all, who are the authors?
We know, even if they are not in the box.
Did they do it knowingly?
Yes.
But not on their initiative, so who are the contractors?
"
“
First,
list the general,
Colonel Mangou who commanded operations on the ground and his air force deputy, Séka Yapo.
Around them, there were the radicals gathered around Simone Gbagbo, the Defense adviser Kadet Bertin, the president of the National Assembly Koulibaly and that of the FPI Affi N'Guessan, identified as extremists in terms of resolving this crisis.
.
"
"
But why,"
continues the general, "such
an insane order
?
For him, the loyalist offensive had "
totally failed
", and the radicals, after the death of the Chief of Staff were "in
panic
" at the idea of a coup.
"
Hence a paranoid defense
," he said: "
what better way than to designate a new enemy to hide the failure
".
"
It could have worked
" points out the general, in particular, "
because of the
8,000 nationals there, or" as many hostages as possible ", as Mangou had threatened
".
"
But they had not taken into account the character of President Chirac and the responsiveness of our units,
" he said.
Finally, “was
there a plot to make Laurent Gbagbo do a big mistake, whom I do not consider as a principal?
“Asks the general.
He then evokes an interview in June 2005 “
Gbagbo told me: you know Africa well enough to know that a Bété leader assumes the decisions of his subordinates.
"As for a possible French manipulation:"
If we had wanted to overthrow Gbagbo or set a trap for him, we would undoubtedly have taken it otherwise
", maintains the general
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