The leader of one of Ivory Coast’s three rebel groups, Felix Doh, has been captured and executed, in what appears to be a battle between rebels and fighters from neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Antoine Beugre, a spokesperson for the Ivorian Popular Movement, said yesterday that unidentified gunmen had abducted and killed the group’s leader, probably last Friday, near the town of Gbinta.
Doh, whose real name was N’dri N’guessan Saint Clair, emerged as a regional powerbroker when his group became the third rebel force to launch an insurgency against the government late last year.
Peacekeepers from France and other African countries have monitored a shaky truce and power-sharing deal between Ivory Coast’s government and the rebels, who control the west and north, but rivalries have surfaced between the rebels and freelance militias from across the border.
Ivory Coast’s government, which was not blamed for Doh’s death, said the incident would not affect the peace process. ”It appears likely that it is a settling of scores among the rebels,” a presidential spokesperson said.
Suspicion for the killing fell on Sam Bockarie, also known by the nickname Mosquito, who led a rebel group with a reputation for brutality during Sierra Leone’s civil war.
But local newspapers said Doh had been at daggers drawn with his Ivorian rebel allies and had opposed disarming the foreign fighters – which is what triggered last week’s clashes.
Liberians and Sierra Leoneans formed a key part of the attack force for the Ivorian rebels who seized chunks of the west late last year, further splitting a state split by the rebellion months earlier. – Guardian Unlimited Â