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Ivory Coast "surprised" by Burkina warrant against parliament head
Guillaume Soro, President of Ivory Coast National Assembly talks with Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara (L) at the presidential palace in Abidjan, October 24, 2014. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Luc Gnago
By Joe Bavier
19/01/2016
ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's government said late on Monday it was "surprised" that neighbouring Burkina Faso had issued an arrest warrant for the speaker of the Ivorian parliament, charging that he sought to back a coup against Burkina Faso's transitional government.
In a statement from the office of the president, Ivory Coast called for the matter to be resolved through diplomatic channels.
Burkina authorities issued the international warrant last week, based on an audio recording of a conversation allegedly between the speaker, Guillaume Soro, and Djibril Bassole, a political ally of Burkina Faso's deposed long-time ruler, Blaise Compaore.
On the recording, which was posted on the Internet last year, two men discuss ways to support a coup then under way against Burkina Faso's interim government.
The coup, led by Compaore's former spy chief, Gilbert Diendere, briefly seized power from Michel Kafando, the interim president. Kafando was guiding Burkino Faso's transition to democracy after popular protests forced out Compaore, who appeared to be manoeuvring to remain in power.
The warrant against Soro, an ex-rebel leader turned politician, has fuelled tensions between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, which share a history of close, if often fraught, economic and political ties.
"The Presidency of ... Ivory Coast is surprised that this document, which targets the president of the second institution of the Republic of Ivory Coast, was issued with disregard for rules and customs," read a statement.
The warrant, which was seen by Reuters, stated that Soro was charged with criminal association, complicity in treason and complicity in an attack on state security.
Both Diendere and Bassole are already in custody in Burkina Faso. Soro has declined to comment on the warrant.
"Ivory Coast reaffirms its firm will to resolve this question through diplomatic channels, respecting our treaties, in order to avoid any disagreements between our two states," the statement said.
Soro and his New Forces rebels controlled northern Ivory Coast for eight years after a 2002 civil war. Allies of then- Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo accused Compaore of supporting the rebellion, a charge denied at the time by Burkina's authorities.
The rebels backed Ouattara's claim to leadership during a second war in 2011 after Gbagbo refused to recognise his election defeat. As speaker, Soro would take over from Ouattara if the president were to die in office.
Compaore has lived mainly in Ivory Coast since the protests in October 2014 forced him to flee Burkina Faso. A warrant for his arrest was issued by Burkina Faso last month. Ivorian authorities have yet to comment publicly on that case.
(Additional reporting by Joe Penney in Ouagadougou)
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