Ivory Coast says it has 'no problem' with neighbours

ABIDJAN - Ivory Coast has "no problem" with its neighbouring countries, the ruling party's spokesman said Wednesday, after Burkina Faso's junta leader accused it of trying to destabilise the country.

Amid high diplomatic tensions in West Africa, the military leaders ruling Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger formed a new "confederation" in July known as the Alliance of Sahel States, severing ties with the regional bloc ECOWAS and threatening the movement of people and goods in the region.

Burkina Faso's Captain Ibrahim Traore then made a speech attacking the "imperialists" he accused of wanting to undermine his country, claiming that Abidjan was hosting "a centre of operations to destabilise" Burkina Faso.

On Wednesday Ivory Coast rebuffed the claims.

"Ivory Coast has no problem with the countries that surround us - on the contrary, they are our brothers and sisters," said spokesman Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani during a press briefing of the ruling RHDP.

He said that the Ivorian government had put a system in place to "welcome all these brothers and sisters who have real difficulties living in their country, and who find Ivory Coast a refuge".

Ivory Coast has set up several refugee camps for Burkinabe people fleeing recurring jihadist violence in the Sahel country.

"We are a country of peace, a country of hospitality, the promised land where all those who feel persecuted in their country can come," said Adjoumani.

He called for peace to return to Burkina Faso and urged people to "pray... that there are elections" and an "end to coups".

Traore, who has made the sovereignty of his country a cardinal point of his governance and turned his back on former colonial ruler France, criticised Ivory Coast for still being an ally of Paris.

He also criticised Benin, saying that his neighbour hosted "two French bases" in the north of the country.