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Kourouma had argued for the resumption of talks on national reconciliation and “elections that are open to all.”
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ABIDJAN,
November 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Ahmadou Kourouma,
Ivory Coast’s leading novelist, has become the latest victim of a
witch hunt on figures suspected of backing rebels in the country’s
bitter two-month conflict.
The
local press has been questioning not only the sympathies but also the
nationality of the author, the latter a sore point in Ivory Coast
politics, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Kourouma
was born in 1927 near Boundiali in the Muslim majority north of the
country, which swiftly fell under control of the rebels after they
took up arms on September 19.
He
is the author of The Suns of Independence, Waiting for the
Vote of the Wild Animals and the still not translated Allah
n'est pas oblige (Allah is not Bound), which won France’s
Renaudot literary price in 2000.
His
novels are satires on the ills of modern African states and he is
particularly scornful of misrule by despotic leaders and servitude to
old colonial masters.
On
Monday, November 18, the government daily Fraternite Matin ran
a full-page article by Communication Minister Sery Bailly vilifying
the author.
Kourouma
has, the minister wrote, become a victim of his roots as a member of
the Malinke, a mainly Muslim ethnic group in northern Ivory Coast.
“The
Malinke world informs the stance Kourouma adopts in his works. At this
time of ethnic division, we can see clearly how he always takes a
critical position based on his culture.
“But
we can also see a change. He used to attack, now he has become
defensive,” Bailly noted, taking care to point out that he penned
the article in 2001.
“Is
he foremost Malinke or foremost a writer? How should we view his
writing and how does it serve us as a nation?”
Not
long ago Bailly’s predecessor as communications minister Dramane
Kone, referred to Kourouma as “our brother” and “the pride of
Ivory Coast.”
But
the crisis, considered the worst Ivory Coast has seen since
independence from France in 1960, appears to have changed that.
The
independent daily L'Inter last week asked: “Why is Ahmadou
Kourouma supporting the rebels?”
The
newspaper answered its own question by suggesting the author feared he
would be exposed as a foreigner since the country’s leadership had
again seized on the notion of Ivoirite, a nationalist policy of
exclusion introduced by former Henri Bedie to keep his opponents out
of office.
“Kourouma,
the keeper of our consciences, is angry because people are asking who
are true Ivorians and who are not... He risks becoming an outcast.”
“The
author has for some time been hiding the fact that his parents come
from Guinea. It appears that he is ashamed of this,” the newspaper
concluded.
In
a recent interview with AFP, Kourouma had argued for the resumption of
talks on national reconciliation and “elections that are open to
all.”
New
elections are one of the central demands of the rebels who are
insisting that President Laurent Gbagbo, who has been elected until
2005, step down.
The
Ivorian leader had last year launched reconciliation talks to bury
social and political tensions and violence that came to a head after a
coup on Christmas Eve 1999.
“Gbagbo
was on the verge of success with the forum for national reconciliation
before this tragedy befell us,” Kourouma said.
But
he added a damning critique of the embattled president.
“Gbagbo
is surrounded by killers, this is worsening matters, it is because of
these killers that we are in such serious trouble.”
