Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo met, Sunday, November 10 in the afternoon, in Abidjan, the French ambassador to Ivory Coast, Jean-Christophe Belliard, Agence France-Presse learned (AFP ) from a French diplomatic source. An unprecedented exchange between a French official and the former head of state since December 2010.
The meeting lasted more than two hours, with “rich exchanges, without taboos, in a direct and spontaneous manner in a warm atmosphere”said this source. “This ends a long silence”she added.
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Laurent Gbagbo, in power between 2000 and 2011, maintained during his mandate often tense relations with Paris, which he long accused of having precipitated his fall. Mr. Gbabgo was forced to leave power following a bloody post-election crisis and several days of French bombings which led to his arrest on April 11, 2011.
Candidate but ineligible
On Sunday, many subjects were discussed: the economic and political issues of Côte d'Ivoire, regional issues, beyond the question of the Sahel, or even the perception of France in the region. “The meeting was cordial and went well”Habiba Touré, spokesperson for the African People's Party-Côte d'Ivoire (PPA-CI), Laurent Gbagbo's party, told AFP, without making further comments.
“This approach is part of the desire to speak to all political actors in Côte d’Ivoire”less than a year before the presidential election, detailed the French diplomatic source, who recalled that Mr. Belliard also met Tidjane Thiam, another leading opponent in Ivory Coast.
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A few months after his arrest, in April 2011, Laurent Gbagbo was transferred to The Hague (Netherlands) and spent eight years behind bars, accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. Definitively acquitted in March 2021, he returned to Ivory Coast in June of the same year and founded the PPA-CI.
Aged 79, he was nominated as his party's candidate for the October 2025 presidential election, but remains ineligible for the moment. He was, in fact, removed from the electoral lists following a conviction in Ivory Coast in 2018, for facts linked to the 2010-2011 crisis.
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