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PARIS – A trial opened in Paris on Monday following the bombing of a French military base in then war-torn Côte d’Ivoire, which killed an American soil scientist and nine French soldiers. The accused are tried in absentia. Nearly two decades later, the attack – and the French government’s response – raises many questions.
Two Ivorian soldiers and a Belarusian mercenary are accused of the 2004 bombing of the French army base near Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire’s second city held by rebels at a time when the country was in the midst of civil war. It is not known where the three men are located – one of the many mysteries surrounding this trial.
Relations between Côte d’Ivoire and its former colonial power, France, were at an all-time low when the bombings took place. Anti-French sentiment – especially against its peacekeeping operation Licorne – was high.
Paris has been accused of helping rebels fight then-president Laurent Gbagbo. France responded to the attack on Bouaké by destroying the tiny Ivorian air force.
Some believe the attack was a mistake by the Ivorian authorities. Former French Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire Jean-Marc Simon told Radio France International he believed even former President Gbagbo had not been informed in advance – but suggested that high-level members of Gbagbo’s government must have given the orders.
Lawyer Lionel Bethune de Moro, representing some of the civil parties in the case, told the Agence France-Presse press service that he believed the attack was deliberate by the Ivorian authorities – as a means of ‘get France to leave Côte d’Ivoire.
Yet others suggest the attack was a plot by France to trigger Gbagbo’s departure. This is a hypothesis raised by another victims lawyer, but rejected by Ambassador Simon as a conspiracy theory.
There are also questions about why the three defendants were never arrested and the international arrest warrants against them were not executed. Former French ministers of defense, interior and foreign affairs were called to testify in this trial.
Bernadette Delon, sister of one of the victims, told AFP she did not expect this trial to resolve anything.
It comes as the International Criminal Court in The Hague ruled on Wednesday whether to confirm his earlier acquittal of Gbagbo on charges related to post-election violence in Côte d’Ivoire in 2010. If it happens, according to reports , the former president plans to return home.
In Abidjan, Willy Neth, coordinator of the International Federation for Human Rights in Côte d’Ivoire, says that many Ivorians have turned the page on the traumatic events of 2004.
He expects few people to follow this Paris trial closely. Yet, says Neth, political opinions remain strongly divided on France.
They are mostly negative when it comes to opposition figures supporting former President Gbagbo, while the current government of President Alassane Ouattara and his supporters see France as a key international partner.
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