Credit:  Wikipedia Commons /  Former rebel leader Guillaume Soro is a candidate in next year’s Presidential Election in  West Africa nation Côte d’Ivoire.

By Gary Raynaldo         DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

The Republic of Ivory Coast issued an arrest warrant this week  for Guillaume Soro, a former Prime Minister and now a candidate in next year’s presidential election for involvement in an alleged coup plot against the West African nation.  Public prosecutor Richard Adou announced on  state television that an arrest warrant had been issued for breaches of state security, receiving stolen public resources and money laundering.  The Prosecutor said the alleged coup plot involved amassing weapons. 

  Charles Blé Goudé   and  Guillaume  Soro  Meet in Europe 

 The former rebel leader, turned politician was apparently in Paris aboard a flight bound for Abidjan when he got the news.  Soro, 47,  was in Europe the past six months, and met with Ivory Coast activist Charles Blé Goudé at The Hague last month.  Blé Goudé  was acquitted of War Crimes Charges at the  International Criminal Court (ICC) last January.  The ICC also dropped war crimes charges Against Ex-Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo. 

Prosecutor Adou played a recording to reporters Thursday,  in which he said Soro allegedly tells an unknown persons that weapons and key people are “positioned pretty much everywhere” at strategic locations.

 Guillaume  Soro  Spokesperson Disputes Prosecutor Allegation

Affoussiata Bamba-Lamine,  Soros’ spokesperson disputed the contents of the video, in a posted video  on the official Facebook page of Soro’s political party.  Bamba-Limine said the audio recording the Ivory Coast prosecutor played to reporters dated from 2017.

Soro was headed to Abidjan from Paris Monday but diverted his private flight to neighboring Ghana “for security reasons”,  according  to his adviser.  The arrest warrant for Soro prevented him from returning to Ivory Coast  after spending six months in Europe.

GHANA  Refuses To Allow Entry To  Guillaume Soro After Ivory Coast Issues Arrest Warrant 

@NAkufoAddo On the tarmac of the airport of Accra the pilot informed me that I couldn’t get out of the plane. The Ghanaian authorities refused to receive me on their soil. Mister President as an African leader do you think that the Country of Kwame Nkrumah should

— Guillaume K. Soro (@SOROKGUILLAUME) December 27, 2019

SORO PLANE ALLOWED  IN SPAIN

Soro’s private plane apparently landed in Accra around 2:30 pm and left because he was not allowed to disembark.  On Tuesday he tweeted that he was heading towards Europe. His aide, Franklin Nyamsi, said Soro was in Spain and was expected to travel to France, according to RFI.   Soro rose to international prominence as the leader of the Forces Nouvelles rebellion against then President Gbagbo during Côte d’Ivoire’s civil war.  After the 2007 peace deal, Soro served as prime minister under the successive governments of Gbagbo and Ouattara between 2007 and 2012.  Soro served for several years as speaker of the National Assembly but apparently had a falling out with President Ouattara.