Seydou Elimane Diarra is an Ivorian

Côte d'Ivoire

The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...

 political figure who was Prime Minister in 2000 and again from 2003 to 2005.

Diarra was born in Katiola. Prior to joining the government, he was an Ambassador to the European Economic Community

European Economic Community

The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...

 and Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 and was President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Côte d'Ivoire. After the December 1999 military coup

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

, he was appointed as Minister of State for Planning, Development, and Government Cooperation on 4 January 2000, under transitional President Robert Guéï

Robert Guéï

Robert Guéï was the military ruler of the Côte d'Ivoire from December 24, 1999 to October 26, 2000.Guéï was born in Kabakouma, a village in the western Man region, and was a member of the Yakouba tribe. He was a career soldier: under the French administration, he was trained at the Ouagadougou...

. He was subsequently Prime Minister from May 2000 to October 2000.

He was again appointed as Prime Minister in February 2003 as part of a deal to end the country's 2002-2003 civil war

Civil war in Côte d'Ivoire

The Ivorian Civil War was a conflict in Côte d'Ivoire that began on 19 September 2002. Although most of the fighting ended by late 2004, the country remains split in two, with a rebel-held north and a government-held south. Hostility increased and raids on foreign troops and civilians rose...

, because he was widely considered to be a neutral figure; however, many supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo

Laurent Gbagbo

Laurent Koudou Gbagbo served as the fourth President of Côte d'Ivoire from 2000 until his arrest in April 2011. A historian by profession, he is also an amateur chemist and physicist....

 accused him of not taking a strong stance against the rebels, despite their failure to disarm in October 2004, and demanded his resignation.

On 5 December 2005, African Union

African Union

The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...

 mediators announced that Diarra was to be replaced by Charles Konan Banny

Charles Konan Banny

Charles Konan Banny was Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from 7 December 2005 until 4 April 2007.Banny joined the Central Bank of West African States in 1976, holding various positions in the Bank over the years. In 1988 he became Special Advisor to the Governor of BCEAO...

, effective on 7 December.

External links

• Report on Diarra's replacement as PM