Ouattara / Gbagbo meeting in Ivory Coast: towards "the peace of the brave"?
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara welcomed his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo to the presidential palace in Abidjan on July 27, 2021, during their first meeting since the post-election crisis of 2010-11.
AFP - ISSOUF SANOGO
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
An embrace for the photographers, a few steps hand in hand and a press conference with all smiles: the reunion between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, more than ten years after their last meeting and the post-electoral crisis that bloodied the Côte d ' Ivoire was cordial to say the least.
The two men took up the challenge of symbolism.
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It is the "
peace of the brave
" that several Ivorian newspapers put forward this Wednesday morning, the end of the "
palaver
", which gives way to "
hope
", "
reconciliation
". Upon arrival at the presidential palace, the tone was set by Alassane Ouattara: "
I'm happy to see you
," the Head of State said to his predecessor before hugging him and taking his hand.
During an hour,
the exchanges, in front of their delegations then in private, were cordial
, fraternal they assured.
Same thing in front of the press for statements accompanied by smiles, tutoiements, gestures… They put forward the need for reconciliation, of restored confidence, promised that other meetings would follow, with additional participants.
We first think of Henri Konan Bedié.
A list of 110 names
Beyond the symbolic, a concrete demand was made by Laurent Gbagbo, as expected: that of the release of prisoners considered "
political
" by the opposition, a hundred people. “
I would like the president to do whatever he can to free them. I insisted on this. Apart from that, we talked about Côte d'Ivoire which must move forward!
Said the former president.
Regarding these prisoners, an FPI-GOR official contacted confirmed the authenticity of a list published this Wednesday morning July 28 by the newspaper
Le Temps
.
A list of prisoners handed over to the Presidency yesterday and on which there are 110 names.
The 29 oldest are in prison since the post-electoral crisis and did not benefit from the presidential amnesty of August 2018. The others are people arrested in 2019 during political tensions in the country, or during the protest of Alassane Ouattara's third term in October 2020.
There is also
Souleymane Kamaraté Koné, known as “Soul to Soul”
, the right-hand man of Guillaume Soro, recently sentenced to twenty years in prison.
Finally, there are six people arrested on June 17 on the sidelines of Laurent Gbagbo's return to the country.
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Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast Politics
Alassane Ouattara
Laurent Gbagbo