News / Africa

Former Ivorian Officials Arrested in Ivory Coast, Ghana

Laurent Akoun, secretary general of former President Laurent Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), speaks at news conference in Abidjan, December 12, 2011.
Laurent Akoun, secretary general of former President Laurent Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), speaks at news conference in Abidjan, December 12, 2011.
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VOA News
Two high-ranking officials close to the former president of Ivory Coast have been arrested.

Ivorian officials say Laurent Akoun, the second-ranking official in former president Laurent Gbagbo's Front Populaire Ivorien party, was arrested Sunday in Adzope, 100 kilometers east of the capital, Abidjan.  He is believed to be implicated in a series of recent attacks on government targets, aimed at destabilizing the country.

At least four people were killed in an attack on a security post Sunday.

Officials in neighboring Ghana announced Sunday that Kone Katinan Justin, a former Ivorian minister and Gbagbo's spokesman, has been arrested.  He fled Ivory Coast after the collapse of Gbagbo's government.

Ivory Coast issued an international warrant for his arrest last year, citing economic crimes.

Another senior member of Gbagbo's party, former minister Alphonse Douati, was arrested earlier this month on charges of violating state security.

The former Ivorian leader is awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity stemming from violence after he lost the 2010 presidential election to his opponent Alessane Ouattara. Ivorian rebel forces arrested him in April.

Several thousand people were killed in the fighting.

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