Ivory Coast soldiers accept deal to end mutiny - spokesmen

The leaders of a nationwide military mutiny in Ivory Coast have accepted a government proposal on bonus payments and agreed to return to barracks and end their revolt, two spokesmen told reporters in the city of Bouake on Tuesday.

The spokesmen said the deal included an immediate bonus payment of 5 million CFA francs ($8,400) for the 8,400 mutineers and a further payment of 2 million CFA francs at the end of June.

The soldiers rejected a proposed deal Monday just minutes after the defense minister announced on state-owned television that an agreement had been reached.

Heavy gunfire on Monday paralyzed much of Abidjan, the commercial capital, and the western port city of San Pedro, echoing another mutiny earlier in the year and further threatening Ivory Coast’s emergence from a 2011 civil war as one of the world’s fastest growing economies.

The government had said on Sunday that it will not negotiate with the mutineers and an operation has been launched to “restore order”.

The renewed mutiny was sparked on Thursday after the spokesman for the mutinous soldiers announced that the group had dropped their demand following a meeting with authorities in Abidjan.

The soldiers who are former rebels integrated into army ranks were promised their bonuses after a mutiny in January.

The government was to pay each of the 8,400 troops bonuses of about $8,000 as part of a deal to end the mutiny. They were due to receive further payment this month.