October 23, 2003	Thursday	Sha’aban 26, 1424

ABIDJAN, Oct 22: A French radio reporter working in Ivory Coast was shot dead by a police official in Abidjan, the main city in the strife-town west African state.

Jean Helene, the Abidjan correspondent of France’s state-owned external broadcaster Radio France Internationale (RFI), was shot dead in his car near the national police headquarters as he was waiting to interview a group of opposition militants freed from police custody on Tuesday.

An Ivorian prosecutor said the killing was intentional.

“The killing was intentional and not unintentional as (police officer) Sergeant Sery Theodore said,” Commissar Ange Kessy said at a news conference.

“The autopsy showed that the shot pierced the left temple ... It is a villainous crime. The sergeant will be prosecuted at the military tribunal and risks at least 20 years in prison,” he added.

Police said an official thought to have fired the fatal shot, had been arrested and was being questioned at the police station.

Police said Helene, 48, suffered a gunshot wound to his head.

French President Jacques Chirac offered his condolences to Mr Helene’s family and called on the Ivorian authorities to launch an inquiry into the death, a spokeswoman in Paris said.—AFP