Ibrahim Coulibaly - Ivorian Civil War

Ivorian Civil War

The contentious October 2000 elections, in which Ouattara was disqualified, thwarted Guéï's attempt to remain in power and made Laurent Gbagbo President of Côte d'Ivoire. Continued tensions of citizenship and ethnicity, like those that led to the 1999 coup, saw another failed coup attempt in January 2001. Coulibaly was again implicated and fled to Burkina Faso, where he and other opponents of the Gbagbo government were sheltered by regional rival Blaise Compaore. In September 2002 Coulibaly returned to the north of Côte d'Ivoire, helping lead a seemingly successful coup against Gbagbo's government.Côte d'Ivoire Coulibaly's faction, one of many on the rebel side, held territory in and around Bouaké before both sides fell into a stalemate that became the First Ivorian Civil War. Various factions were uneasily united in the northern based Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire, led from Bouaké. in In August 2003 he was arrested in Paris under suspicion of seeking to destabilize the Ivorian government, but he was released on bail in September. In June 2004 fighting broke out between his followers and those of rival rebel commander Guillaume Soro. In January 2005 Coulibaly expressed support for efforts by the African Union at mediating the political crisis.

Coulibaly's associates were allegedly responsible for the assassination attempt on Ivorian Prime Minister Guillaume Soro in June 2007.

On December 30, 2007, the New Forces (former rebels) accused Coulibaly of attempting a coup on the night of December 27–28. It said that he had moved towards the Côte d'Ivoire-Ghana border to "join his accomplices" on that night; he had previously been staying in Cotonou, Benin, but was ordered to leave Benin by that country's government for allegedly working to destabilize Côte d'Ivoire. A clash on that night in Bouake led to the death of Seydou Traore, who the New Forces said was working for Coulibaly as the "central coordinator of the conspiracy". Those involved in the clash who were captured were said to have identified Coulibaly as the leader of the plot.