A thief who was trying to seize a UN vehicle in Abidjan, the economic capital of Cote d'Ivoire, shot and killed a bystander during a confrontation with UN peacekeepers, a UN spokesman said on Monday.
Hamadoun Toure, the official spokesman of the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI), said the incident occurred on Friday, just outside the offices of the 6,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in the busy suburb of Zone 4.
Elaborating on a UN statement issued earlier, Toure told IRIN by telephone that two thieves had stolen 1.4 million CFA francs (US$2,800) in cash from another vehicle nearby. They tried to seize an ONUCI car to make a fast getaway after their own car broke down, but UN guards intervened to stop them, he added.
One of the two men was arrested and turned over to the Ivorian security forces. The other, although seriously injured, escaped from the scene.
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