20120826
AFP
Laurent Gbagbo's spokesman has been arrested in Ghana where he fled after the collapse of the former Ivorian president's regime, relatives and a government source said Saturday.

Justin Kone Katinan was arrested under an August 2011 warrant for alleged economic crimes as budget minister during three months of crisis and conflict that followed Gbagbo's refusal to cede power to his rival Alassane Ouattara in December 2010.

"He was arrested yesterday in Accra by Ghanaian police when he arrived from Johannesburg," a relative told AFP in Abidjan by telephone from Ghana's capital.

"This time it's right," said a source in Ouattara's government, referring to an earlier report of Katinan's arrest that turned out to be unfounded.

The source said that Ivorian officials had been sent to Accra and "he should be back in Abidjan within the day."

But Katinan did not return home. A family member, noting that Katinan's political refugee status has just been renewed, said that he had told his wife that extradition was "out of the question".

The relative said that Katinan was in custody but was "serene" and expected to be freed soon.

However a senior Ghanaian police officer denied knowledge of the arrest.

Gbagbo appointed Katinan his spokesman following his own arrest in April last year and subsequent extradition to stand trial at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Katinan is the second of Gbagbo's henchmen to be arrested under an international warrant issued by the Ivorian government, after former defence minister Moise Lida Kouassi, who was picked up in Togo on June 6 and extradited the same day.

Katinan is accused of being behind a series of bank robberies to keep Gbagbo's camp in funds.

Thousands of Gbagbo loyalists fled to Ghana after the fall of his regime following the post-election conflict in which some 3,000 people were killed.

Meanwhile, a soldier, a civilian and two assailants were killed in an attack on a military checkpoint near the town of Grand-Lahou, 140 kilometres (85 miles) west of Abidjan.

Defence Minister Paul Koffi Koffi, however, said the incident was not considered part of a recent trend that has seen the army targeted in a string of attacks.

Two other assailants escaped and the civilian was hit by a stray bullet, said the minister. A military source earlier said four assailants and one solider had been killed.

Tension is still high in Ivory Coast in the wake of the series of attacks on the army that the Ouattara government has blamed on Gbagbo supporters.

Some 20 former regime figures have so far been detained and accused of genocide, crimes of violence and other charges.

Former minister Alphonse Douati was arrested in Abidjan on August 18, accused of violating state security.

Though some pro-Outtara forces have also been accused of crimes during the crisis, no one from the president's camp has so far been charged, leading to claims of bias and "victor's justice".