courting the colonels

Côte d’Ivoire: Ouattara spreads his diplomatic net

By Nadoun Coulibaly, Florence Richard

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Posted on July 6, 2023 10:25

jad20230622-ass-civ-ouattara-putschistes-1-1256×628 © Alassane Ouattara, President of Côte d’Ivoire, Mamadi Doumbouya (Guinea),
Ibrahim Traoré (Burkina Faso) and Assimi Goïta (Mali). Montage JA: Phil Magakoe/AFP; AP/SIPA; Ousmane Makaveli/AFP; Olympia de Maismont/AFP — Alassane Ouattara, President of Côte d’Ivoire, Mamadi Doumbouya (Guinea), Ibrahim Traoré (Burkina Faso) and Assimi Goïta (Mali). Montage JA: Phil Magakoe/AFP; AP/SIPA; Ousmane Makaveli/AFP; Olympia de Maismont/AFP

With three of his five neighbours all run by coup leaders, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara must pull off a delicate balancing act.

On the tarmac of Abidjan’s Félix Houphouët-Boigny airport on 7 January, President Alassane Ouattara was all smiles. Behatted and carrying a small Ivorian flag, he waited on a red carpet for the doors to open on an Ivorian Air Force plane that had just pitched down in the midnight hour.

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