Emmanuel Macron pays tribute to nine French soldiers killed in 2004 bombing in Ivory Coast

Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte join President of the Ivory Coast to pay tribute to nine French soldiers and US scientist killed in 2004 bombing in former colony

  • Macron said the ceremony marks a step toward reconciliation in Ivory Coast
  • The country is a former French colony and was split in two after a war 
  • French soldiers were killed during a 2004 airstrike by the Ivory Coast air force 

Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to the victims of a 2004 bombing during the Ivorian Civil War that killed nine French soldiers and an American civilian.

The French President joined the President of the Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, observed a moment of silence flanked by their wives in front of a high school in the city of Bouake that served as a French military base at the time.

Macron said yesterday that the ceremony would mark another step toward reconciliation in Ivory Coast. 

Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron (left) with Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara and his wife Dominique (right) pay homage to the French and US soldiers killed in 2004

Macron said yesterday that the ceremony would mark another step toward reconciliation in Ivory Coast

Macron said yesterday that the ceremony would mark another step toward reconciliation in Ivory Coast

They observed a moment of silence flanked by their wives in front of a high school in the city of Bouake that served as a French military base at the time

They observed a moment of silence flanked by their wives in front of a high school in the city of Bouake that served as a French military base at the time

The country, a former French colony, was split into a rebel-controlled north and a loyalist south during the 2002-2007 war.

The French soldiers and the American civilian were killed during a November 2004 airstrike by the Ivory Coast air force.

France accuses the Belarussian pilot and two Ivorian co-pilots who carried out the bombing of murder and attempted murder. 

The country, a former French colony, was split into a rebel-controlled north and a loyalist south during the 2002-2007 war

The country, a former French colony, was split into a rebel-controlled north and a loyalist south during the 2002-2007 war

The pair laughed as they greeted each other in what is an important meting for two nations

The pair laughed as they greeted each other in what is an important meting for two nations

Later today, Macron and Ouattara laid the first stone of a modern building that will house a market in Bouake

Later today, Macron and Ouattara laid the first stone of a modern building that will house a market in Bouake

The French leader is due to return to France on Sunday night after the three-day visit to West Africa

The French leader is due to return to France on Sunday night after the three-day visit to West Africa

A trial is to begin in France next year but the three defendants will not be there because international warrants for their arrests were never carried out.

The American victim, Robert Carsky, 49, grew up in Syracuse, New York, and spent most of his adult life working in West Africa as a soil scientist and crop researcher.

Later Sunday, Macron and Ouattara laid the first stone of a modern building that will house a market in Bouake.

Macron is scheduled to continue a three-day visit to West Africa that started Friday with a brief stop in Niger, where he is to discuss with President Mahamadou Issoufou about rising violence by Islamic extremists.

The French leader is due to return to France on Sunday night.

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