Ibrahim Coulibaly

Ibrahim Coulibaly (24 February 1964 – 27 April 2011) was a military and rebel leader in Côte d'Ivoire. A staff sergeant in the Armed Forces of Côte d'Ivoire, Coulibaly had served since at least the early 1990s. As Côte d'Ivoire slid into communal conflict, Coulibaly joined the 1999 coup led by Robert Guéï. A second coup, following the 2000 elections that made Laurent Gbagbo President, saw Coulibaly in a leadership position, after which he came into conflict with fellow military leader Guillaume Soro. During the ensuing eight years of division in the country, Coulibaly came into conflict with both sides, eventually returning to lead an Abidjan-based militia supportive of Alassane Ouattara. Following the end of fighting, Coulibaly was killed in Abidjan by Ouattara's forces during an attempt to disarm his group.

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.

Arrest warrants France and Côte d'Ivoire both issued international arrest warrants for Coulibaly. On March 10, 2008, a trial of Coulibaly, involving his alleged plot to seize power and kill Gbagbo with mercenaries in 2003, began in Paris. Coulibaly was tried in absentia; his lawyers said that they did not know where he was. Twelve co-defendants were on trial with him, most of whom were present, having been arrested in France in mid-2003. On March 11, Coulibaly denied the charges in an interview with Agence France-Presse, saying that he had never attempted to recruit any mercenaries in France. According to Coulibaly, he was in Belgium at the time of the interview and would not go to France to participate in the trial. He claimed that the legal proceedings against him were intended to keep him from returning to Côte d'Ivoire to run against Gbagbo in the 2008 presidential election.

The French court found Coulibaly guilty of "heading or organising a group with mercenary objectives", and sentenced him in absentia to four years in prison on June 4, 2008. Five of his co-defendants were acquitted and the remaining seven were given sentences lighter than Coulibaly's.

2010–2011 Ivorian crisis In January 2011, Coulibaly appeared as the reputed head of a militia group opposed to Laurent Gbagbo. On 27 April 2011, according to an Ivorian defense ministry spokesman, Coulibaly was killed by FRCI forces.