Mutinous soldiers in Ivory Coast have released the country’s defence minister after detaining him for two hours in a standoff over pay.<\/p>\n
Alain Richard Donwahi was held in the city of Bouake by troops who rejected the terms of a deal announced by President Alassane Ouattara.<\/p>\n
Mr Ouattara said he had taken into account demands over pay and conditions and urged troops to return to barracks.<\/p>\n
But it remained unclear if the mutiny was over.<\/p>\n
The mutiny began in Bouake, the country’s second largest city, on Friday and spread to the commercial capital, Abidjan, where soldiers took over the army headquarters.<\/p>\n
Following talks between Mr Donwahi and the mutineers, Mr Ouattara announced the deal in a televised address.<\/p>\n
“I confirm that I have agreed to take into account the demands of the soldiers over bonuses and better working conditions,” he said, without giving details.<\/p>\n
“I would like to say that this manner of making demands is not appropriate. It tarnishes the image of our country after all our efforts to revive the economy.”<\/p>\n
Despite the announcement, some of the mutineers opened fire, trapping Mr Donwahi and dozens others in a local official’s home. They were only allowed to leave several hours later.<\/p>\n
Earlier, shooting was heard at the military base in Akouedo, on the eastern edge of Abidjan, which is home to parachute commandos who are considered loyal to Mr Ouattara.<\/p>\n
Similar protests were also reported in the cities of Man, Daloa, Daoukro, Odienne and Korhogo.<\/p>\n
The BBC’s Alex Duval Smith in Abidjan says the mutiny has brought back memories of Ivory Coast’s 10-year civil war, which ended in 2011.<\/p>\n
Some of the mutineers were thought to be former rebels who joined the army after the conflict.<\/p>\n
The rebels swept into Abidjan from Bouake in 2011, helping Mr Ouattara take power after his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo – now on trial at the International Criminal Court – refused to accept defeat in elections the previous year.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mutinous soldiers in Ivory Coast have released the country’s defence minister after detaining him for two hours in a standoff over pay. Alain Richard Donwahi was held in the city of Bouake by troops who rejected the terms of a deal announced by President Alassane Ouattara. Mr Ouattara said he had taken into account demands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n