Coup leader promises normalcy in Ivory Coast

Coup leader promises normalcy in Ivory Coast
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ABIDJAN, DEC 25: The leader of a military coup promised today to restore law and order in Ivory Coast as French soldiers reportedly escorted President Henri Konan Bedie to Abidjan's international airport.

Former army leader Gen Robert Guei said in a Radio France-Internationale broadcast early Christmas morning that his army forces had arrested soldiers guilty of looting during the coup that began on Thursday with army rioting. scattered shooting continued today. France's ambassador was helping Bedie prepare to leave the country, Guei said. Earlier the radio station cited French diplomats as saying French soldiers based in Ivory Coast were escorting Bedie to the airport, from where he planned to leave the west African country.

Independent confirmation of Bedie's movements could not be immediately obtained.

Guei, a 58-year-old retired soldier, however, said he would block Bedie's evacuation if the president "continues to call for an armed resistance" to the junta. Bedie on Friday urged his allies, including traditional chiefs, to counterattack against the rebellion, Radio France-Internationale reported.