Coup plotters convicted in Ivory Coast

A court in Ivory Coast has sentenced two men to 20 years in prison for their alleged involvement in a coup attempt last year.

The prosecution described one of the accused, the businessman Ahmed Bassam, as the leader of the failed coup.

Last month six other people were jailed for their involvement in the alleged plot, and eleven people were acquitted.

A BBC correspondent in Ivory Coast says the exact details of the conspiracy are vague.

He says defence lawyers maintained that there had never been a plot and that the trial was politically motivated.

Members of the opposition say the trial reflects increasing tension between the government and the mainly Muslim opposition in the north of Ivory Coast in the run-up to district elections next month.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service