The spokesman for Ivory Coast former president Laurent Gbagbo has been arrested in Ghana where he fled after the collapse of Gbagbo's regime, his family and a government source said Saturday.
Justin Kone Katinan was arrested under an August 2011 warrant for alleged economic crimes as budget minister during the 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."
However a senior Ghanaian police officer denied knowledge of the arrest and the relative said Katinan would resist extradition as his status as a political refugee had just been renewed.
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.
Tension is still high in Ivory Coast in the wake 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".
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ivory-coast-ex-presidents-spokesman-arrested-130142051.html
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