Ivory Coast president says deal reached to end army mutiny
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ABIDJAN- Ivory Coast's president said a deal was reached Saturday to end a two-day army mutiny that renewed security concerns in the world's top cocoa producer and Africa's fastest-growing economy.
President Alassane Ouattara made the announcement during a cabinet meeting Saturday evening. Earlier in the day, his defense minister, Alain-Richard Donwahi, led a delegation to negotiate with disgruntled soldiers in the country's second-largest city, Bouake, where the mutiny that saw troops shooting their weapons began Friday morning.
But in an early sign not everyone was on board, mutineers in Bouake fired Kalashnikov rifles and other weapons again after Ouattara's announcement, trapping Donwahi in the home of a local official along with other members of his delegation and journalists.
The group was finally able to leave just before 10 p.m., said one of the hostages, Aboubacar Al Syddick, a journalist for the local newspaper L'Intelligent d'Abidjan. The defense ministry then released a statement denying Donwahi had been held against his will, saying he was merely continuing negotiations.
