THREE KILLED BUT PRIME MINISTER SORO UNHURT AFTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000705

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINS PREL KPKO IV
SUBJECT: THREE KILLED BUT PRIME MINISTER SORO UNHURT AFTER
RPG ATTACK ON HIS AIRCRAFT

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Vicente Valle for reasons 1.4 (b
) & (d)


1. (C) Multiple sources confirm Prime Minister and New Forces
leader Guillaume Soro is alive and well after an RPG attack
on an airplane in which he was traveling at Bouake airport on
the morning of June 29. ONUCI Acting SRSG Abu Moussa told us
that, according to UN Air Ops personnel who witnessed the
incident, a rocket was fired from the vicinity of the Bouake
airport at Soro's plane as it was landing and "at least three
people" had been killed. Soro was unhurt and in a safe
location in Bouake, according to Moussa, who said he had
spoken to the Prime Minister a few minutes earlier.


2. (C) According to DATT sources, three RPGs were fired at
the plane and there were an unspecified number of wounded in
addition to the three dead. These sources added that there
was only the one incident against Soro's plane (which
belonged to President Gbagbo) and that there had been no
subsequent fighting. We received several reports that
shooting had continued in Bouake but this may have been the
reaction of security forces to the original attack.


3. (C) According to the ONUCI political chief, Licorne,
ONUCI, and FANCI have all taken appropriate security measures
in Abidjan. (We have detected nothing unusual in troop
movements or dispositions other than increased security
measures around the hotel Ivoire related to a wedding there
of a member of the President's family.) ONUCI and FANCI have
also reportedly gone on alert at the Abidjan airport.
Abidjan remains calm.


4. (C) We also spoke with New Forces spokesperson Alain
Lobognon, who was in Bouake. Lobognon confirmed Soro was
fine and under UN protection in a safe place. (DATT was
subsequently told Soro is at his home in Bouake.) He added
that the situation in Bouake was a bit chaotic but OK.


5. (C) A French Embassy official, citing Licorne eyewitness
accounts in Bouake, told us that rockets and AK-47 fire had
been directed at the plane as it was landing but that the
rockets had not exploded, thereby averting a bigger tragedy.
He said the three dead were Soro's protocol director, chief
of security, and an assistant chief of staff. He added that
there had been some shooting in Bouake shortly after the
incident but that the city was calm. The French Embassy has
advised its citizens in Bouake to exercise caution.
According to several sources, shops in Bouake are closed.


6. (C) The Chief of Staff of Minister of Tourism and New
Forces stalwart Sidiki Konate gave us a very different
account of what had happened in Bouake. According to him,
the attack occurred while Soro and his entourage (which
included Konate) were on their way to town from the airport
and was carried out by some 15 soldiers using light weapons.
However, since this report contradicts those of all our other
sources, we do not find it credible.


7. (C) Comment: Things appear to be quieting down again
although tensions will remain higher than before.
Speculation has already started as to who may have been
behind the attack. At this point, it's just that,
speculation, but the likeliest candidates would seem to be
disgruntled New Forces elements. At any rate, Soro and the
peace process appear to have dodged a bullet (or rocket).
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