Minister Hamed Bakayoko claimed that exiled army officers in Ghana were behind the plot.

The authorities in Côte d’Ivoire on Tuesday June 12, 2012 announced that they had foiled a plot by pro-Laurent Gbagbo exiled army officers based in Accra, Ghana to replace the government of President Alassane Ouattara with a transitional military council.

The Interior Minister, Hamed Bakayoko made the disclosure to State radio and television, claiming that the alleged coup leaders had already recorded a speech which they intended to broadcast on State television, Radio France Internationale, said.

The General Manager of the State-run RTI television was cited as saying the incriminating video had been given his station by the country’s intelligence agencies. He claimed that it shows a group of officers dressed in military fatigues with one reading a speech in which he announces the overthrow of the government by a military council, the dissolution of all State institutions, suspension of all political activities and the closure of the country’s borders and airspace.

The plot was foiled last March following the arrest near Abidjan of one of the officers who is based in Ghana, Minister Bakayoko said. Some civilians close to former President Gbagbo were also said to be part of the plot. They include former Minister of Defence, Moïse Lida Kouassi who was arrested in Togo last week and extradited to Côte d’Ivoire.

Bakayoko also claimed that repeated attacks in the western part of the country by armed men believed to be from Liberia was part of the plot. He justified the arrest of several pro-Gbagbo officials after last year’s post-election crisis as aimed at maintaining peace and stability in the country.