Soldiers’ protest paralyses Abidjan

Businesses and offices in Abidjan were closed on Tuesday after soldiers demanding increased allowances protested in the early hours of the morning by firing shots in the air. Protests were also reported in Bouake, the country’s second largest city, and the northern town of Korhogo. Information Minister Captain Henri Sama said the protest began at around 03.00 GMT and was staged by “some soldiers of the Ivoirian army who, for some weeks now, have been demanding six million CFA francs(just under US $9,000) each as war booty”. He did not elaborate. Speaking on national television, he said such a demand, at a time when “the entire Ivoirian population has serious financial difficulties”, was inadmissible, given the “substantial salary increases” the ruling Conseil National de Salut Public (CNSP) had agreed to give the soldiers. Sama described the protest as “apparently a manipulation orchestrated by politicians who want to gain power by any means”. He said the CNSP would “do everything to ensure the security of persons and property” and called on the soldiers to “go back to the barracks so that a solution to their demands can be found in calm and discipline”. Radio reports said on Thursday afternoon that representatives of the soldiers were negotiating with the CNSP.