Guei's 'evidence' against Ouattara

Ouattara's supporters are angry over attempts to bar him

Lawyers representing Ivory Coast's military leader General Robert Guei have produced documents intended to show that opposition leader Alassane Dramane Ouattara is ineligible to stand in the forthcoming presidential elections.

Mr Ouattara's citizenship has been a burning issue for more than a year in Ivory Coast - General Guei's December coup followed months of instability sparked by then-president Henri Konan Bedie's attempts to discredit Mr Ouattara.

Ouattara: Ready for DNA test to determine parentage

Mr Ouattara - a former prime minister of Ivory Coast - is awaiting a court case which will rule definitively on his right to stand in the presidential elections, which have been delayed to October.

At a press conference on Monday, General Guei's lawyers presented photocopied documents which suggested that Mr Ouattara had been filling in forms since 1962 as a citizen of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso).

The lawyers presented papers pertaining to, among other things:

• Mr Ouattara's marriage to Barbara Davis in 1966
• The opening of a bank account in 1978
• The sale of property in 1980

On all these documents, Mr Ouattara is declared to be a citizen of Upper Volta.

Maternity questions

The marriage certificate also stated that Mr Ouattara's mother was deceased at the time of his wedding.

Ivory Coast - Key dates

1960 - Independence from France

Oct 95 - Presidential elections

24 Dec 99 - General Guei ousts civilian President Henri Konan Bedie in coup

28 Dec 99 - Guei says he will restore constitutional rule

4 July 00 - Hundreds of soldiers mutiny over pay

23-24 July 00 - New constitution approved by referendum

22 Oct 00 - Presidential election to be held

The lawyers pointed out that this contradicted Mr Ouattara's assertion that he is the son of an Ivorian woman, Hadja Nabintou Cisse, who is still alive aged 80.

They said that if Mr Ouattara had been parading himself as foreign citizen for so many years, it left a lot to be said about his integrity.

The lawyers declared that there was enough proof to charge him with use of false documents - repeating an accusation made last year when Mr Ouattara produced papers to contradict the previous government's assertion that he was a foreigner.

Eight lorryloads of security personnel were present in and around the luxury hotel in Abidjan where the press conference took place.

The military authorities were apparently cautious following an incident last week where Mr Ouattara's supporters flung objects and tore up documents unfavourable to the opposition leader.

Our correspondent Funmi Kuo says Mr Ouattara remains unpeturbed, and has said he will take DNA tests to prove that Mrs Cisse is his real mother.