Côte d’Ivoire Prime Minister Guillaume Soro survived a rocket attack on his plane on Friday, and gunfire rocked his stronghold of Bouake in the centre of the divided country, aides said.
Soro escaped unhurt in the attack on his aircraft as it landed at Bouake, the base of his New Forces movement, which took over the north of Côte d’Ivoire after failing to oust President Laurent Gbagbo in 2002, adviser Alain Lobognon told Agence France-Presse by telephone.
”The plane carrying our delegation was attacked with a rocket, at about 10.30am [local time], while we were landing at Bouake. There are at least three dead but the prime minister escaped,” Lobognan said.
Soro’s personal bodyguard opened fire to secure the airport perimeter, security sources said. Firing continued between the airport and the city an hour after Soro landed.
Soro was named prime minister in April after signing a peace deal with Gbagbo, but press reports said some rebel factions had branded him a traitor for doing so.
Soro had arrived in Bouake to preside over a ceremony restoring the judiciary in company with a dozen magistrates and other officials.
It was to be a key step in the peace process aimed at reunifying the country.
Gbagbo himself is due in Bouake on July 5 to head a disarmament ceremony along with South African President Thabo Mbeki, the chief mediator in the lengthy reconciliation efforts.
Meanwhile, France on Friday condemned the ”cowardly attack”.
”France condemns with the greatest firmness this cowardly attack and reaffirms its solidarity with the whole of the Ivorian nation and people,” said a statement from Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.
France has more than 3 000 troops in the country who have operated alongside United Nations forces to patrol a buffer zone dividing the rebel-controlled north and the government-led south. — AFP
