Former rebel leader refuses to return to the Ivory Coast

Former Ivory Coast rebel leader Guillaume Soro says he has been forced into self-imposed exile in France over numerous legal problems. Soro lead a 2002 revolt that sliced the former French colony into the rebel-held north and the government-controlled south and triggered years of unrest. A report on the News24 site notes that he was an ally of President Alassane Ouattara, helping him to power during a post-election crisis in 2010 that claimed several thousand lives. He went on to serve as Prime Minister under Ouattara. In April, he was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison after he was convicted of embezzling public funds. He also faces charges of plotting an anti-government uprising. Soro is also the subject of a complaint filed in Paris on the grounds of torture, murder and war crimes between 2004 and 2011. The report notes that Soro has insisted that the accusations are designed to keep him out of the presidential race, which has been seen as a test of stability for Ivory Coast.