Fugitive Ivory Coast opposition chief arrested – party

Fugitive Ivory Coast opposition leader Pascal Affi N’Guessan has been arrested north of Abidjan, his party said Saturday, as prosecutors investigate President Alassane Ouattara’s rivals for rejecting his reelection.

Ouattara won a third mandate by a landslide after opposition leaders called for a boycott, triggering a crisis in Ivory Coast by accusing him of breaking with two-term presidential limits.

“Affi N’Guessan was arrested during the night,” in the central eastern town of Bongouanou, said Eddie Ane, a member of his Ivorian Popular Front party.

N’Guessan, a former prime minister, was the opposition spokesman and a candidate in the October 31 presidential election.

At least 40 people have been killed in clashes over Ouattara’s third term since August, reviving fears that francophone West Africa’s top economy could spiral into post-election violence, as a decade ago when fighting killed 3,000.

Ivory Coast prosecutors said Friday they were investigating three opposition leaders for insurrection, murder and terrorism.

N’Guessan and opposition chief Henri Konan Bedie had called for a campaign of civil disobedience during the election. After rejecting the result, they called for a transitional government.

Security forces have blockaded the homes of several opposition chiefs in Abidjan.

In power since 2010, Ouattara had said that at the end of his second term he planned to make way for a new generation, with supporters praising him for bringing economic growth and stability.

The sudden death of his chosen successor in July prompted the former IMF economist to change his mind. He says a 2016 reform allows him to reset presidential term limits and run for a third time.

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