Secretary-General sends team to Côte d’Ivoire regarding attack on Prime Minister

On the request of the President of Côte d’Ivoire for an independent international inquiry into the June attack against a plane carrying Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has sent an exploratory mission to the West African country.

On 29 June, at least four people were killed when unidentified attackers fired a rocket on a plane carrying Mr. Soro as it landed at the airport in Bouaké, situated in the north of Côte d’Ivoire.

The aim of the six-day mission is to determine the nature of the Ivorian authorities’ request and to discuss options, based on UN principles and practices, pertaining to such investigations, according to a press release issued by the UN Mission in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI).

The Security Council had denounced the June attack, saying that it backed the March Ouagadougou agreement, which sets out a series of measures to deal with the political divide in the country, and condemned “any attempt to destabilize the peace process by force.”