RIYADH, 29 March 2003 — The Foreign Ministry yesterday dismissed reports that the Saudi Ambassador to Ivory Coast Mohamed Ahmed Al-Rasheed had been murdered. A ministry spokesman said he died in Abidjan of natural causes.
He added, however, that Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal had urged Ivory Coast authorities to investigate the circumstances that led to Rasheed’s death.
The official Saudi statement came after the ambassador was found dead early yesterday in the main city of Abidjan.
Rasheed’s body was found on the 15th floor of the stairwell in a Plateau district residential apartment, AFP reported, quoting informed sources. The ambassador was living on the 17th floor of the building.
The corridor leading to Rasheed’s apartment and the stairs were stained with blood, the agency said, adding that the circumstances of his death were unclear.
But the Saudi ministry spokesman denied the report. “Initial information from Abidjan shows that there were no signs of violence on the victim’s body, which makes one think he died of natural causes,” the official said.
“It appears that Rasheed died from an internal hemorrhage,” the spokesman said. Authorities in the Kingdom were waiting for a full report from Ivory Coast.
However, an Ivorian government statement indicated that Rasheed was murdered. The government “vigorously condemned this barbaric act” and expressed its “condolences to Saudi authorities and to the family” of the deceased. “It is with deep consternation and shock that the government has learned of the death of his excellency.”
“Every time that Ivory Coast is in a state of belligerence, the enemies of our country commit odious crimes,” the statement added.
Rasheed had been invited to dinner at the home of the Algerian ambassador on Thursday but cancelled the engagement at the last minute. It was Rasheed’s driver who alerted the building’s concierge. He had gone in the morning to pick up the car keys and found the corridor in front of the ambassador’s flat covered in blood, accoding to AFP. Several Ivorian officials including Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, Foreign Minister Mamadou Bamba and Security Minister Fofana Zemogo visited the block of flats, AFP said.
One resident of the building was in shock. “It’s getting very difficult living here. Imagine, with so much security and yet something like this happens in the building,” Anil Gangadharan said.
The street where the building stands has been cordoned off for security reasons since it is also the location of the US Embassy.
Rasheed came to Ivory Coast from Bombay in India, where he had been Saudi consul general until December.
The Foreign Ministry expressed the Kingdom’s deep sorrow over the ambassador’s death and conveyed its condolences to his bereaved family.
