Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara Sunday moved to bolster his authority in the deeply divided country with a probe into members of his ousted rival's regime for "blood crimes". The former IMF official and long-time opposition figure took charge last Monday of the world's top cocoa grower when his forces stormed the presidential palace in Abidjan and seized defiant strongman Laurent Gbagbo.
Ouattara's government ordered civil servants to resume work from Monday - exactly a week after Gbagbo's dramatic arrest. And his Justice Minister Jeannot Ahoussou told AFP he would ask prosecutors to investigate members of Gbagbo's regime suspected of various crimes, adding the focus would be on "blood crimes", weapons purchases or embezzlement. Targets could be members of the previous government but also journalists of state radio RTI, which was viewed as a powerful propaganda mouthpiece for the regime.
"These investigations will target all Ivorian nationals who breached the law," Ahoussou said, noting that it would be up to judges "to determine the offences".
Abidjan, the west African country's main city, meanwhile slowly returned to normal after 10 days of fighting that finally led to Gbagbo's ouster.
"There are more people in the streets and in the churches, especially children," said a resident in the city's southern and densely populated Koumassi suburb. "There is more traffic and more small shops are open. The situation is increasingly returning to normal but not wholly normal as yet," he said. Gbagbo - who spent a decade in power - had refused to accept defeat in November's presidential vote, provoking a violent stand-off even though UN observers and the bulk of the international community had recognised Ouattara's victory. The ex-president is under house arrest in the north of the country while former rebel fighters loyal to Ouattara patrol Abidjan along with UN peacekeepers and a force from former colonial master France.
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