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                                                                                                            Buharry.
_____________________________________________________________________Ivorian leader, Gen. Guei, escapes assassination attempt
September 18, 2000
Web posted at: 10:09 AM EDT (1409 GMT)


ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (Reuters) -- Ivory Coast's military ruler, General Robert Guei, said Monday he had escaped an assassination attempt at his residence during the night but that two of his bodyguards had been killed. 

"Some young military people were more or less invited by certain people who are known to me to make an attempt on my life," Guei told a news conference. 

He declined to say who these "certain people" were. 

Guei, who came to power after a coup last December, said that a presidential election -- the first in a series to restore civilian rule -- would go ahead as planned on October 22. 

He said the shooting at his residence had begun at about 1 a.m. (0100 GMT) Monday. 

Witnesses had reported sustained firing from about 3 a.m. (0300 GMT) from the vicinity of Guei's house just outside the central Plateau business and administrative district. 

Continuous firing was heard for around 45 minutes and short bursts of occasionally heavy firing could still be heard from near Guei's residence until at least 5 a.m. (0500 GMT). 

"There were a couple of big bangs, mortars or grenades or something," one man who lives nearby said of the initial attack. "The firing was quite concentrated." 

Gates of residence broken open
A senior military source said the assailants had forced the driver of an armored vehicle guarding the residence to break down the gates and had gone inside. 

Communication Minister Henri Cesar Sama confirmed on state radio that armed assailants had managed to get inside Guei's residence in the early hours but added: "Fortunately, loyalist forces quickly got the upper hand." 

Guei said two of his personal guard had been killed in the attack. Army sources said as many as 10 people had been killed from the two sides. 

Workers at the PISAM private clinic in Abidjan said five wounded soldiers had been brought in. Their wounds were not life-threatening. 

There were some reports of gunshots in other parts of Abidjan, including near the president's office in the Plateau district and near the headquarters of state television, but witnesses said they had not heard heavy gunfire. 

Sama told state radio that armed elements were still at large in the city. He vowed that they would be shown no mercy. 

Sporadic bursts of gunfire could still be heard at mid-morning in the Cocody district near the area of Guei's residence and one person in a home in the area was wounded by a stray bullet. Two loud explosions were heard at one point. 

Paramilitary gendarmes were seen halting traffic for periods and firing at targets off the main road circling the lagoon on which Abidjan sits. 

Calm restored
By midday (1200 GMT) calm had returned. 

     
Sama advised citizens to be cautious if they went outdoors. Although many people had started traveling to work as normal at first light, around 5:30 a.m. (0530 GMT), the city was much quieter than usual by the afternoon. 

Military and paramilitary forces were on the streets in large numbers, checking identity papers. 

Abidjan is the main city in the West African country, which is the world's biggest cocoa producer. 

All the ministries and embassies are located in Abidjan. The United States, British and Dutch embassies warned their citizens to stay indoors. 

Guei took power in a military coup in December 1999, which followed a pay mutiny. There have been bouts of military unrest since then, often over pay, although Guei has also suggested political motives. 

He said in December that he was not interested in power but just wanted to "sweep the house clean" after the corruption and ethnic division that characterized the ousted government of President Henri Konan Bedie. 

However, he has since decided to stand as a candidate in the presidential election and some members of the military are known to be unhappy with that. 

At least six members of Guei's personal bodyguard have been arrested in the past two weeks and charged with threats to the security of the state, although those charges have since been reduced, diplomats said. 

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