Saudi ambassador found dead
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (Reuters) -- Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Ivory Coast was found dead in a pool of blood in the country's main city, Abidjan, on Friday and the Ivorian government said it was a "barbaric act" of murder.
Mohammed Ahmad al-Rasheed's body was found lying face down in a pool of blood on the stairs of his apartment building on Friday morning, police sources said.
Saudi officials in Riyadh said there was no sign of an attack but diplomats said the body was naked when it was discovered, and some said the ambassador's throat had been cut. It was impossible to verify the reports immediately.
The Ivorian government blamed "the enemies of Ivory Coast" for the killing, hinting that rebels who have been fighting a six-month civil war in the West African country may have carried out the crime in a bid to discredit the authorities.
Diplomats, however, said there was no suggestion the murder was politically motivated or linked to Saudi Arabia's opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
"The government...notes that every time Ivory Coast emerges from a state of war, the enemies of our country commit hideous crimes to keep it in such a state," said a government statement.
A Saudi embassy official in Abidjan said it was not yet clear how Al-Rasheed died. The Saudi Press Agency in Riyadh said it could have been a natural death caused by internal bleeding.
Rebels hold the northern half of the world's largest cocoa producer and large chunks of the west. A fragile peace process has been blocked for weeks by haggling over top jobs in a power-sharing government meant to include rebels.
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