IVORY COAST: Remains of a body which investigators believe belongs to Franco-Canadian journalist Guy-Andre Kieffer, who went missing in Ivory Coast in 2004 brought to the French military base in Abidjan accompanied by Judge Patrick Ramael

Record ID: 182145

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Remains of a body which investigators believe belongs to Franco-Canadian journalist Guy-Andre Kieffer, who went missing in Ivory Coast in 2004 brought to the French military base in Abidjan accompanied by Judge Patrick Ramael
  • Date: 8th January 2012
  • Summary: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (JANUARY 7, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE THREE CAR MILITARY CONVOY ENTERING ABIDJAN CONVOY STOPPED ON ROAD, JUDGE PATRICK RAMAEL STANDING (ON CRUTCHES) TALKING TO FRENCH SOLDIERS IN CIVILIAN CLOTHES AND IVORIAN NATIONAL REPUBLICAN ARMY SOLDIERS (FRCI) (SOUNDBITE) (French) COLONEL BAKARY DIARRASSOUBA, IVORY COAST ARMY CHIEF OF OPERATIONS, SAYING "What's happening here is that we have discovered these human remains at Issia, and it is these remains that we have brought to the 43rd BIMA (French Military Base) with the French judge who's here and some personnel from the French gendermerie." VARIOUS OF CONVOY MOVING IN (SOUNDBITE) (French) COLONEL BAKARY DIARRASSOUBA, IVORY COAST ARMY CHIEF OF OPERATIONS, SAYING "Now it's up to the justice with all the procedures it entails to try and see exactly if this is the body of Kieffer or someone else's body." CONVOY ARRIVING AT BIMA FRENCH MILITARY PERSONNEL AND IVORIAN MILITARY PERSONNEL TALKING IN FRONT OF THE FRENCH MILITARY BASE VARIOUS TWO CARS INCLUDING THAT OF THE FRENCH JUDGE AND WITH THE APPARENT REMAINS OF KIEFFER ENTERIN BIMA (SOUNDBITE) (French) COLONEL BAKARY DIARRASSOUBA, IVORY COAST ARMY CHIEF OF OPERATIONS, SAYING "Most of all it's due to the FRCI from the area of Issia who, by (doing) extensive research and (hearing) testimonies, have been the biggest help in finding the site where we discovered these remains." VARIOUS OF IVORIAN CONVOY LEAVING BIMA
  • Embargoed: 23rd January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cote d'Ivoire
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVAEKSZ5BZN57ER1DH85962I29BS
  • Story Text: The remains of the body of a man believed to be Franco-Canadian journalist Guy-Andre Kieffer were brought to Abidjan in the early hours of Saturday morning (January 7) after they were unearthed on Friday afternoon in a western part of Ivory Coast.
    Kieffer went missing in the country's economic capital Abidjan in 2004.
    The team of French and Ivorian investigators have sent samples from the body, exhumed in the Issia region several hundred kilometres (miles) to the northeast of Abidjan, to France for genetic identification tests.
    But the full remains were brought to Abidjan overnight under armed guard accompanied by judge Patrick Ramael, and taken to the French military base BIMA by French and Ivorian military personnel.
    "What's happening here is that we have discovered these human remains at Issia, and it is these remains that we have brought to the 43rd BIMA (French Military Base) with the French judge who's here and some personnel from the French gendermerie," said colonel Bakary Diarrassouba, the Ivorian Army chief of operations.
    Lieutenant Alassane Doumbie, Ivory Coast army chief of operations in the Issia region, had earlier told Reuters that villagers told him three months ago that they had witnessed the "strange burial of a white man" in Yaokro, about 20 km (12 miles) from Issia.
    He said he discovered the grave where the body had been sumarily buried on the outskirts of the village.
    "Now it's up to the justice with all the procedures it entails to try and see exactly if this is the body of Kieffer or someone else's body."
    French investigators are following up allegations of a political link in Kieffer's disappearance involving members of the entourage of former President Laurent Gbagbo.
    Gbagbo was captured in April in Abidjan by fighters loyal to his rival Alassane Ouattara after four months of civil war following a disputed presidential election, in which more than 3,000 people were killed and one million were displaced.
    Ouattara, who was sworn in as president shortly afterwards, sent his rival to face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court late last year.
    Kieffer was believed to be investigating corruption in the cocoa sector of the Ivory Coast - the world's largest producer - when he disappeared. French investigators have established that he was abducted in a car park in Abidjan on April 16, 2004.
    Diarrassouba paid tribute to his colleagues in the Ivorian military forces for discovering the body.
    Most of all it's due to the FRCI from the area of Issia who, by (doing) extensive research and hearing testimonies, have been the biggest help in finding the site where we discovered these remains."
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