Ivory Coast Ex-PM Guillaume Soro Says Ending Exile
Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published November 13, 2023 | 09:10 AM
Abidjan, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Nov, 2023) Ivory Coast's former prime minister Guillaume Soro, sentenced to life in prison for undermining national security, on Sunday said he was ending his self-imposed exile that began in 2019.
Soro was previously right-hand man to President Alassane Ouattara, but the pair fell out in 2019, with the head of state accusing him of fomenting a "civilian and military insurrection".
Soro then went into exile, and an Ivorian court sentenced him in absentia to life imprisonment in 2021.
"I am announcing here and now that I am putting an end to my exile because it's hard for me to live far from my ancestral and native land of Africa," Soro said in an address published on social media.
"I refuse to be a fugitive. I am guilty of no crime," he added, saying he wanted to "contribute to the reconciliation" of the country's population, without specifying a return date.
Soro said an attempted arrest against him was made at Istanbul airport on November 3, in a bid to extradite him to Ivory Coast.
Soro was head of an insurgency that controlled the northern half of Ivory Coast in the early 2000s.
He provided crucial military support to Ouattara in his tussle with the then president, Laurent Gbagbo, who was ousted in 2011 after a brutal post-election conflict.
Soro then became Ouattara's first prime minister and in 2012 was named speaker of the National Assembly.
Soro was also sentenced in April 2020 to 20 years jail for handling embezzled public funds.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Sharjah Animation Conference explores cross-cultural collaboration opportunities ..
Sharjah Public Library provides countless opportunities for young imaginations t ..
Sharjah Police launches 'Your belongings, your responsibility' awareness campaig ..
Dubai Police displays Innovative Tourism Security Services at 'ATM 2024'
Mohammad Haris, Aamir Jamal not part of national squad for Ireland, England: Bab ..
Erdogan opens former church to Muslim worshippers
Cultural events hallmark of a nation, Director RAC
Iraq hangs 11 convicted of 'terrorism': security, health sources
Stocks rise on renewed hopes of rate cuts
PM assures all-out support to Saudi investment
S.Africa building collapse traps 48 workers: city hall
Nilofar lauds efforts for development of national document aimed promoting balan ..
More Stories From World
-
Football: Italian Serie A results - collated
3 hours ago -
Football: Italian Serie A table
3 hours ago -
Atalanta climb into Serie A top five ahead of Marseille decider
3 hours ago -
Jones frustrates Wilson's quest to win World Snooker final
3 hours ago -
No let up yet for flood-battered south Brazil
5 hours ago -
Serie A blasts plans for government football finance body
5 hours ago
-
Prophet's Mosque accommodates over 4.2 million worshippers last week
5 hours ago -
UN experts slams Israel’s ‘sexual assault and violence’ against women, children in Gaza
5 hours ago -
Merlier pips Milan to Giro third stage, bold Pogacar holds lead
6 hours ago -
Sharjah Animation Conference explores cross-cultural collaboration opportunities, highlights new pro ..
6 hours ago -
Sharjah Public Library provides countless opportunities for young imaginations to take flight at SCR ..
6 hours ago -
Sharjah Police launches 'Your belongings, your responsibility' awareness campaign
6 hours ago