Cote d'Ivoire to reopen case on assassination of ex-president

The Abidjan military prosecutor Colonel Ange Kessy on Wednesday announced the "imminent" reopening of the case on the death of General Robert Guei, Cote d'Ivoire's ex-transition president.

Kessy who was addressing the press in Abidjan, said 15 soldiers and gendarmes will be charged in the case that is expected to be concluded before end of June 2015.

"Out of the 15 suspects, seven have already been arrested. They are still suspects. We have overwhelming evidence against them but we are still refining it. We shall do everything to bring out the truth about the assassination of General Guei," he said.

"We are determined to come up with the exact list of ex- president's killers," he said, vowing that Guei's death will not go unpunished.

Elsewhere, Kessy said cases facing soldiers who were involved in the 2010-2011 post-election violence will start on Thursday, March 12, 2015.

He said the cases are in response to the desire by Cote d'Ivoire authorities to end impunity in the country.

"Cote d'Ivoire intends to become a country that respects the rule of law. To achieve this, we must address these kinds of challenges," the military prosecutor said.

General Guei who led a military transition in Cote d'Ivoire between December 1999 to October 2000, was found dead in 2002 at a time when the country was engulfed in a political crisis following an armed rebellion that had broken out in September 2002.

Following the coming to power of Alassane Ouattara in 2011, an inquiry was instituted to shed more light on the circumstances of the death of the former president and punish his killers. Endi