Delinquent mutineers to be tried and cashiered

Soldiers who staged violent protests on 4-5 July in major Ivoirian towns are to be tried by a special military court, Cote d'Ivoire's President, General Robert Guei, said on Sunday in a nationwide radio and television broadcast. The soldiers had reportedly staged the protest to obtain a bonus for their part in overthrowing former president Henri Konan Bedie. They looted arms depots, banks and other businesses, especially in the central town of Bouake, according to the authorities. Repeating earlier claims that unnamed politicians were behind the protest, Guei said it was "regrettable and unthinkable for soldiers to allow themselves to be manipulated by ambitious politicians who are only thinking of destroying our beautiful country". "The delinquent soldiers who thus auctioned off their honour and dignity (and) violated the rules of military discipline and virtue...," he said "will be judged by a special military tribunal so as to be severely punished by the law before being dismissed from the armed forces".