Aboudramane Sangaré, also spelled Abou Drahamane Sangaré, (March 9, 1946 – November 3, 2018) was an Ivorian politician and co-founder of the

Ivorian Popular Front The Ivorian Popular Front (; abbr. FPI) is a centre-left, democratic socialist and social democratic political party in Ivory Coast. History FPI was founded in exile in 1982 by history professor Laurent Gbagbo, Aboudramane Sangaré, and oth ...

(FPI) political party. He served as

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

from October 2000 to March 2003 under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Laurent Gbagbo Koudou Laurent Gbagbo
, FPI website . ( G ...

, a close political ally. Sangare was president of a dissident, pro-Gbagbo faction of Ivorian Popular Front members at the time of his death in 2018.

Biography

Sangaré first met future President

Laurent Gbagbo Koudou Laurent Gbagbo
, FPI website . ( G ...

in 1970 while both were students at the

University of Abidjan A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. In 1971, both were imprisoned by the government of then-President Felix Houphouet-Boigny for their opposition to his government. During the 1980s, Sangare and Gbagbo began to set up their clandestine opposition party. Gbagbo, Sangare, and other allies co-founded the

(FPI) in 1988. The party was legalized in 1990. The government of then-President

Henri Konan Bédié Aimé Henri Konan Bédié (5 May 1934 – 1 August 2023) was an Ivorian politician. He was President of Côte d'Ivoire from 1993 to 1999, and formerly President of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast – African Democratic Rally (PDCI–RDA).< ...

imprisoned Sangare from 1994 to 1995. Laurent Gbagbo became President of Ivory Coast in 2000. He appointed Sangare

from October 2000 to March 2003. The duo remained close after Sangare left office and became head of the FPI. Sangare remained a close loyalist of former President Gbagbo, former First Lady

Simone Gbagbo Simone Ehivet Gbagbo (born 20 June 1949), National Assembly website (2007 archive page) . is an Ivorian politician. She is the president of the Parliamentary Group of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) and is a vice-president of the FPI. As the wi ...

, and their family even after the ex-president's arrest and trial by the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

(ICC) for

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

. Sangare denounced the arrest and extradition of Gbagbo to the ICC in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, describing the former president as a "hostage". Sangare also led

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

s of subsequent Ivorian national elections to call for the release of Gbagbo. He and his faction of the FPI condemned the government of President

Alassane Ouattara Alassane Dramane Ouattara (; ; born 1 January 1942) is an Ivorian politician and economist who has been List of heads of state of Ivory Coast, President of Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) since 2010. An economist by profession, he worked for the I ...

as "undemocratic" at rallies calling for Gbagbo's release. Gbagbo remains on trial for

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

, as of 2019. Sangare, who suffered from cancer, was hospitalized at the Hôtel Dieu hospital in Abidjan in October 2018. He died in the same hospital just fifteen days later on November 3, 2018, at the age of 72. According to

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...

, Sangare's death dealt a significant blow to the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party. The RFI described Sangara as "one of the most respected members" within the FPI and an important ally of the Gbagbos. Sangare was president of a dissident, pro-Gbagbo faction of the FPI at the time of his death. Sangare's death came just ten days after the unexplained disappearance of another major FPI leader, former director general of the port of Abidjan, Marcel Gossio.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sangare, Aboudramane 1946 births 2018 deaths Ministers of foreign affairs of Ivory Coast Ivorian Popular Front politicians Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny alumni People from Lacs District