International
Ex Ivory Coast Leader, Bedie Dies @89
Henri Konan Bedie, a former Ivory Coast President, has died at age 89.
This was disclosed by a close relative to Reuters on Tuesday.
Bedie dominated politics in the West African nation for a generation.
He served as president from 1993 until his ouster in 1999 and later ran a losing race against his long-time political rival, President Alassane Ouattara in 2020, when he was 86 years old.
He was long remembered – and in some parts reviled – for his role in promoting the issue of “ivoirite”, or Ivorian identity.