Officials of political party freed in Ivory Coast
ABIDJAN, July 14 (AFP) - Officials of a key Ivory Coast political party,
the Rally of Republicans (RDR), were freed by police Friday after being
held
in connection with an army mutiny this month, an RDR spokesman said.
Those released in the morning were Amadou Gon Coulibaly, RDR deputy
secretary general, party spokesman Aly Coulibaly and Coulibaly Sangafoa,
party
representative in the northern town of Korhogo.
It was not immediately known if there were any charges brought or
conditions surrounding the release.
The officials were arrested on Wednesday as part of the investigation
into
the July 4-5 mutiny.
A fourth member of the RDR, Mamadou Coulibaly, Gon Coulibaly's uncle,
was
detained for a shorter time.
Junta leader General Robert Guei said the mutiny was an attempted coup,
and
accused politicians of manipulating the soldiers, but without mentioning
any
names.
Relations between the RDR and the junta headed by General Robert Guei
have
turned full circle since the December 24 coup.
At the time many saw Alassane Ouattara, a former prime minister, as the
main beneficiary of the coup, as the tension caused by a campaign waged
against him by ousted president Henri Konan Bedie was one of the motors
behind
the coup.
Ouattara had returned to Ivory Coast to challenge Bedie in elections
after
holding a top job at the International Monetary Fund.
After the coup, bickering in the transitional government led Guei to
expel
the RDR, accusing its members of insubordination and since then relations
have
gone from bad to worse.
The new constitution to be voted on in a referendum July 23 includes a
clause on the nationality credentials of a presidential candidate which
could
bar Ouattara from running for the top job.
Some observers have said that Guei's own political ambitions may be
behind
his attempts to exclude Ouattara's party, since Ouattara is one of the
strongest potential candidates.
Sidi Sanneh
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