Ivory Coast announced it would reopen its border with eastern neighbour Ghana on Monday, more than two weeks after it was closed over a series of deadly attacks which Ivorian officials said were launched from Ghanaian territory.
Accra / NationalTurk – The Ivorian government blamed the raids, which targeted police and army installations in the commercial capital Abidjan and a border town on Sept. 20 and 21, on supporters of former president Laurent Gbagbo currently living in exile in Ghana.
Ivorian Defence Minister Paul Koffi Koffi said in a statement broadcast on state television late on Sunday that both countries had reinforced security along the border “with the aim of stopping all incursions”.
“As a result President Alassane Ouattara decided that from Monday October 8, 2012 at seven in the morning the land and sea borders will reopen,” he said.
Though Ivory Coast reopened its airspace to flights from Ghana on Sept. 23, the closure has blocked the main transportation route along the Gulf of Guinea, stretching from Ivory Coast to Nigeria.
Ghana has promised to help investigate the attacks, which further worsened relations already strained by Accra’s refusal to act on international arrest warrants targeting former members of Gbagbo’s regime issued by Ivory Coast last year.
Ghanaian President : Ghana not to allow the use of its territorries to destabilize other countries
Meanwhile, Ghana’s foreign minister Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni has welcomed the reopen of the border which he described as a step in right direction which will affirm the dedication and commitment the two countries shares from time immemorial. He further said Ghana will do all it can by collaborating with their Ivorian counterparts to avert such unfortunate incident in future. It must be recalled that the president of Ghana John Dramani Mahama in his speech before the United Nation General Assembly in New York said Ghana will not allow its territories to be used to destabilize other countries which the minister said Ghana still stand by that.
Gbagbo’s refusal to accept defeat in a 2010 election won by Ouattara sparked a brief war last year that killed over 3,000 people. He is currently awaiting trial before the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity which analyst believe is what the basis for these clashes is.
ISSAKA ADAMS / NationalTurk Africa News
[adrotate banner=”57″]
