Abidjan - Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara announced on Saturday he has reached an agreement with soldiers who seized the second city Bouake in a pay protest that spread to the economic capital Abidjan.

"I confirm my agreement to take into account the demands relating to bonuses and improving the living conditions of soldiers," Ouattara said in a brief declaration broadcast on television.

"Having given my agreement, I ask all soldiers to go back to their barracks to allow decisions to be carried out calmly," he added, without giving details of the deal.

The announcement came after shots rang out at a military base in Abidjan as soldiers put up barricades in the city, a day after troops took over Bouake, firing rocket launchers in the streets and terrifying residents.

The soldiers are seeking bonuses, pay rises and faster promotion.

The deal was reached after a meeting between Defence Minister Alain Richard Donwahi and a delegation of the mutineers in Bouake.

The situation had dramatically escalated Saturday as the unrest spread to Abidjan, the bustling commercial hub of the world's largest cocoa producer and home to the presidency, government and parliament.

Soldiers also took to the streets of Daloa and Daoukro in the country's centre as well as Korhogo in the north on Friday. Though the protests there eased, the unrest had spread to Man in the west as well as Abidjan by Saturday. </s> ABIDJAN, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Soldiers demanding salary increases and the payment of bonuses were behind the seizure of Ivory Coast's second-largest city of Bouake on Friday, the West African nation's defence minister said.

"It is asked that all soldiers remain calm and return to barracks so that lasting solutions can be found," a statement from Alain-Richard Donwahi read on state-owned television said. </s> ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Gunfire erupted Saturday at a military camp near Ivory Coast’s commercial capital, Abidjan, amid growing unrest in cities in the West African nation involving soldiers demanding pay bonuses, a military source told CNN.

The soldiers involved are former rebels who claim they were promised a salary bonus they never received for their role in bringing President Alassane Ouattara to power after disputed elections in 2010, the military source said.

Defense Minister Alain-Richard Donwahi arrived Saturday in the central city of Bouaké, the stronghold of the soldiers, a day after he said on national television he would try to speak with them to understand their concerns.

The unrest began Friday in Bouaké, but gunfire has since broken out in the cities of Man in the west and Korhogo and Odienné in the north, as soldiers took up positions at the entrance to each city with heavy weapons, the military source said.

The unrest also spread Saturday to Abidjan, where soldiers have set up roadblocks around the neighborhood of Palmeraie.

The soldiers, including some who have been demobilized, say they were each promised 5 million CFA francs ($8,000) and a house for their role in the rebellion that brought Ouattara to power after his predecessor refused to acknowledge his election win.

A government source told CNN on Friday that the government did give salary bonuses to the heads of the rebellion and it was not distributed to regular soldiers — although he did not specify the details of what was paid.

The unrest comes as a political reshuffle in the Cabinet and several government institutions is taking place.

Ivory Coast suffered months of violence following the disputed presidential elections in November 2010. Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent, refused to step down after Ouattara was declared the winner.

Gbagbo was arrested five months later and is on trial at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands.

A UN peacekeeping force remains in Ivory Coast, tasked with ensuring the protection of civilians and supporting the government’s efforts to disarm and reintegrate former combatants. </s> A two-day mutiny among soldiers in the Ivory Coast has come to an end, according to the country's president. Alassane Ouattara announced Saturday that the government has struck a deal with the mutineers.

The revolt, which began Friday in Boake, the country's second-largest city, soon spread to cities and towns nationwide. By Saturday, parts of the Ivory Coast's largest city, Abidjan, were on lockdown, as gunfire was reported at the military base on the edge of the city.

There have been no immediate reports of casualties.

As NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton notes, the soldiers' grievances center on bonus pay and living conditions. "One soldier says former fighters integrated into Ivory Coast's army were demanding bonuses of $8,000 apiece — plus a house," Ofeibea reported Friday for the Newscast unit.

Defense Minister Alain-Richard Donwahi flew up to Boake to negotiate a deal with the rebellious soldiers.

Ouattara announced it afterward to government ministers and reporters, Reuters reports. He said the government "had agreed to take into account the soldiers' demands," according to the news service, while also offering this rebuke:

"I would like to say that this manner of making demands is not appropriate. It tarnishes the image of our country after all our efforts to revive the economy."

Ofeibea reports the president has asked the soldiers to return to their barracks.

It is believed that many of the mutineers are former rebels, who joined the Ivorian army only after the country's 10-year civil war ended in 2011. The city of Bouake had played a central role as a rebel stronghold during that war. </s> Disgruntled troops cut off Bouake after staging fresh revolt over a pay dispute with the government.

Mutinying soldiers sealed off access to Ivory Coast's second largest city of Bouake on Saturday, soldiers and residents said, as protests over a pay dispute with the government continued despite warnings of harsh punishments.

The unrest began in Bouake on Thursday before quickly spreading, following a pattern similar to a mutiny in January by the same group that paralysed parts of the West African country.

Mutinying soldiers, majority of whom are ex-rebel fighters who helped bring President Alassane Ouattara to power, went a step further on Saturday, blocking roads leading north and south out of Bouake.

"We do not want to negotiate with anyone," Sergeant Seydou Kone, one of the leaders of the uprising, said..

"We're also ready to fight if we are attacked. We have nothing to lose," he added.

The unrest broke out hours after national television broadcast a ceremony in which a spokesman for 8,400 mutinous soldiers apologised to Ouattara for a rebellion in January, and dropped demands for extra pay.

By Friday morning, disgruntled soldiers, firing guns in the air, had surrounded the military headquarters in Abidjan. Later in the day, armed soldiers sealed off all roads leading into Odienne.

READ MORE: Ivory Coast's former first lady cleared of war crimes

Bouake residents said shops remained closed on Saturday as soldiers, many of them wearing balaclavas, fired their weapons in the air and patrolled the streets in stolen cars.

Kone said the mutineers were also active in the commercial capital Abidjan and the towns of Korhogo, Daloa, Man and Bondoukou. A Korhogo resident confirmed gunfire there and said access to the main military camp had been blocked.

In a statement broadcast on state television late on Friday, Military Chief of Staff General Sekou Toure threatened the soldiers with "severe disciplinary sanctions" if they did not end the revolt.

The government held an emergency meeting on Friday and said it will not negotiate with the mutinying troops.

Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque, reporting from Ouagadougou in neighbouring Burkina Faso, said Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara wants to show he is in control of the armed forces.

"President Ouattara wants to stand firm. He wants to show to these mutineers, to the soldiers, to people in the Ivory Coast and to foreign investors that he’s in charge of the armed forces," Haque said.

He added that there are only two options for the rebellious troops: "either return to the barracks or face action from the government".

The latest revolt follows that of a similar mutiny in January that erupted in Bouake and spread to nine other cities.

The government then agreed to a deal that provided amnesty for the mutineers and agreed to pay each soldier 12m CFA francs ($19,950). The soldiers received 5m francs ($8,370) in January, and were due to get the rest of the sum this month.

But they said the government asked for a delay in payment to ease financial pressure on the treasury, citing a collapse in cocoa revenues.

Ivory Coast is the largest exporter of cocoa in the world and has had to shrink its national budget due to falling prices.

The Ivory Coast was going through a "very, very difficult time", the president said, after a fall in the price of cocoa.

The Ivorian army, which consists of about 22,000 soldiers, includes many former rebels who were integrated into the armed forces after years of conflict.

Ivory Coast was plunged into civil war in 2002 following a failed attempt to oust then-president Laurent Gbagbo.

The revolt sliced the former French colony into the rebel-held north and the government-controlled south and triggered years of unrest.

Gbago was forcibly removed from office in 2011 after he refused to accept Ouattara's internationally recognised victory in a presidential election the year before. The rebels were then integrated into the army in a peace deal.

Last year, Ivory Coast launched an ambitious plan for the modernisation of the military, including an overhaul of personnel as well as purchases of material worth $1.3bn.

Part of the plan provides for the departure of several thousand men, particularly ex-rebels, who will not be replaced. </s> Mutinous soldiers in Ivory Coast shot two people and cut off access to the second largest city, Bouake, on Saturday, as a nationwide revolt over demands for bonus payments extended into a second day despite government warnings of harsh punishment. The revolt began in Bouake early on Friday before spreading quickly, following a similar pattern to a mutiny by the same group in January that paralysed parts of Ivory Coast and marred its image as a post-war success story. Mutineers seized control of the national military headquarters and defence ministry in the centre of the commercial capital Abidjan on Friday.

They stepped up the pressure on Saturday, blocking roads out of Bouake, the epicentre of January’s uprising, and protesting in several other locations, including the northern city of Korhogo, where two men on a motorcycle were shot as they tried to force their way through a roadblock manned by the mutineers.

“They shot at them. They were wounded and transported to the hospital,” said witness Amadou Yeo, adding that the two men had been shot in the legs.

Also in Korhogo, soldiers fired into air to disperse a group of residents that had gathered to protest against the uprising, sending people fleeing home. Shops were shuttered and the streets were largely empty.

“We do not want to negotiate with anyone,” said Sergeant Seydou Kone, one of the leaders of the uprising, speaking by phone from Bouake. “We’re also ready to fight if we are attacked. We have nothing to lose.”

In a statement on state television late on Friday, Military Chief of Staff General Sekou Toure threatened the soldiers with severe disciplinary sanctions if they did not end the revolt.

Ivory Coast’s defence minister and government spokesman were not reachable for comment on Saturday.

The soldiers were promised bonus payments by the government after the January mutiny but it has struggled to disburse the money following a budget crunch caused by the collapse in the price of cocoa, Ivory Coast’s main export.

Ivory Coast has emerged as one of the world’s fastest growing economies following a decade-long political crisis ended by a 2011 civil war. But deep divisions persist, particularly in a military assembled from former rebel and loyalist combatants.

The government has already paid 8,400 soldiers – most of them former rebels who helped bring President Alassane Ouattara to power – bonuses of 5 million CFA francs ($8,371) each as part of a deal to end the January mutiny.

On Thursday, following a meeting with authorities in Abidjan, a spokesman for the group said they would forego demands for remaining bonuses of 7 million francs.

But that decision was rejected by some of the soldiers.

“We want our 7 million and that’s it,” said Kone.

Bouake residents said shops remained closed as soldiers fired weapons in the air and patrolled the streets in cars.

Mutineers also took control of the northern city of Odienne and there was sporadic gunfire in Daloa, the main cocoa growing hub in southwestern Ivory Coast, which is the world’s top producer of the chocolate ingredient.

Kone said the mutineers were also active in Man near the western border with Liberia, and Bondoukou in the east.

“Perhaps the government is tired of this, but they must sit down and talk,” said retired gendarme Valentin Sokoure, speaking near the military headquarters in Abidjan where the barricades had been removed Saturday morning. “I just want the government to negotiate with the mutineers.”

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App now </s> ABIDJAN, May 12 (Reuters) - Gunfire erupted on Friday in several locations in Ivory Coast, including the military headquarters in the commercial capital Abidjan, as anger spread following a decision by some leaders of a group of mutineers to drop demands for bonuses.

The protests by soldiers, most of them ex-rebel fighters who helped bring President Alassane Ouattara to power, began in the second largest city, Bouake, overnight before spreading to Abidjan and the northern town of Odienne.

The unrest came a day after a spokesman for thousands of soldiers who participated in a January mutiny, which paralysed parts of the world's top cocoa grower, said the group would forego demands for more money.

"That's not what they were meant to say," said one of the mutiny leaders in Bouake, who asked not to be named, explaining the reaction of the soldiers to the announcement.

"Soldiers are at the entrances to the city. We won't close it off for the moment ... Other soldiers are also deployed inside the city."

He said if they received no response from the authorities, they would seal off access to Bouake in the evening.

"We're still hearing gunfire. They are firing in the air. To be safe we are starting to send the children home from school," said Sarah Toure, a teacher in Bouake.

Mirroring the rapid spread of the January mutinies, gunfire also was heard at Ivory Coast's military headquarters as well its largest military base in Abidjan, military and diplomatic sources said. Soldiers also blocked access to the northern city of Odienne, a resident said.

Ivory Coast has emerged from a 2002-2011 conflict as one of the world's fastest-growing economies. But deep divisions persist, particularly in a military assembled from ex-rebel and loyalist fighters, raising the spectre of lingering instability.

That pledge to drop further demands for bonus payments would ease pressure on government finances, which have been squeezed by a sharp decline in world cocoa prices and earlier payments to the mutinous soldiers. (Writing by Joe Bavier Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Larry King and Richard Lough) </s> Mutinous soldiers in Ivory Coast shot three people on Saturday and cut off access to the second-largest city, Bouake, as a revolt escalated over demands for bonus payments.

The revolt began in Bouake early on Friday before spreading quickly, following a similar pattern to a mutiny by the same group in January that paralysed parts of Ivory Coast and marred its image as a post-war success story.

Mutineers seized control of the national military headquarters and defence ministry in the centre of the commercial capital, Abidjan, on Friday.

They stepped up the pressure on Saturday, blocking roads out of Bouake, the epicentre of January’s uprising, and protesting around the country, including the northern city of Korhogo, where two men on a motorcycle were shot in the legs as they tried to get through a roadblock manned by the mutineers.

“They shot at them. They were wounded and transported to the hospital,” said witness Amadou Yeo.

In Bouake, soldiers fired on a group of demobilised former rebels, seriously wounding one of them, according to their spokesman and a local politician.

Sgt Seydou Kone, a spokesman for the mutineers, said the ex-fighters, who went through a disarmament programme following the country’s 2011 civil war, were planning their own protest, as they did early this week, and his men had opened fire to stop them.

“We do not want to negotiate with anyone,” said Sgt Kone by phone from Bouake, in the centre of the country. “We’re also ready to fight if we are attacked. We have nothing to lose.”

In a statement on state television late on Friday, Gen Sekou Toure, the army’s chief of staff, threatened the soldiers with severe sanctions if they did not end the revolt.

Ivory Coast’s defence minister and government spokesman could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

The soldiers were promised bonus payments by the government after the January mutiny but it has struggled to disburse the money following a budget crunch caused by the collapse in the price of cocoa, Ivory Coast’s main export.

Ivory Coast has emerged as one of the world’s fastest growing economies following a decade-long political crisis ended by a 2011 civil war. But deep divisions persist, particularly in a military assembled from former rebel and loyalist combatants.

The government has already paid 8,400 soldiers - most of them former rebels who helped bring President Alassane Ouattara to power - bonuses of 5 million CFA francs ($8,400) each as part of a deal to end the January revolt.

On Thursday, following a meeting with authorities in Abidjan, a spokesman for the group said they would forego demands for remaining bonuses of 7 million francs.

But that decision was rejected by some of the soldiers.

“We want our 7 million and that’s it,” said Sgt Kone.

Bouake residents said shops were closed as soldiers fired weapons in the air and patrolled the streets in cars.

Mutineers also took control of the northern city of Odienne and there was sporadic gunfire in Daloa, the main cocoa-growing hub in southwestern Ivory Coast, which is the world’s top producer of the chocolate ingredient.

Hundreds of people, meanwhile, gathered for a rally against the revolt close to the military headquarters in Abidjan, which was still being held by the mutineers. </s> Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Rebellious soldiers took up positions near the military's headquarters in Abidjan on Friday

Angry soldiers have blocked off access to Bouaké, the second largest city in the Ivory Coast, as a revolt over a pay dispute continues.

One of the uprising's leaders said the soldiers were "ready to fight" if attacked.

Sergeant Seydou Koné said they did not want to negotiate with anyone, according to Reuters news agency.

The unrest began after a spokesman for the soldiers announced on Thursday that they had dropped their pay demands.

In January, they forced the government into paying them about $8,000 (£6,200) each in bonuses to end a rebellion. They were due to receive a further payment this month and about 8,000 mutineers are unhappy that they were not consulted ahead of Thursday's televised announcement.

Three former rebels from the country's civil war era were wounded on Saturday after the mutinous soldiers opened fire in Bouaké to stop them staging their own protest, Sergeant Koné said.

There have also been reports of injuries after shooting in the northern city of Korhogo.

The military chief of staff, General Sékou Touré, had threatened "severe disciplinary sanctions" on Friday if the uprising did not end. Shops are closed and soldiers are patrolling and firing in the air in Bouaké, residents said.

The mutineers have also taken control of the city of Odienne, in the north, reports say.

On Friday, shots were fired in the air at military bases in Abidjan, Bondoukou in the east, Bouaké in the centre, and Korhogo. It is believed the mutineers were firing blanks.

In response, elite Republican Guard troops in Abidjan fired warning shots that pushed the mutineers back inside the military headquarters compound in Abidjan, Reuters reported. The situation in the city on Saturday was said to be calm.

Reacting to the spreading unrest, President Alassane Ouattara held an emergency meeting of the country's security council.

The mutiny has raised fears of a resurgence of the violence seen during Ivory Coast's 10-year civil war, which ended in 2011.

Many of the mutineers in January were thought to be former rebels who joined the army after the conflict.
Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara reaches a deal with soldiers who seized the town of Bouake in a pay protest. The soldiers are seeking bonuses, pay rises and faster promotion.