Benin Claims 'Poison Plot' Suspect also behind Coup Bid

Benin authorities said Monday a cotton magnate already wanted over an alleged attempt to poison President Thomas Boni Yayi was also linked to a coup plot that has led to the arrests of two people.

Patrice Talon, a former Yayi ally, has been accused of being one of the suspects behind a plot to overthrow the head of state that authorities alleged on Sunday in the West African nation.

Talon was also accused in October of masterminding an unsuccessful plot to replace the president's heart medication with poison. Opposition figures questioned whether those allegations were intended to smear the president's enemies.

"A new international warrant of arrest is under way for Patrice Talon but it has not yet been delivered. We are still working on it," state prosecutor Justin Gbenameto told Agence France Presse.

Gbenameto in a statement on Sunday said a colonel and a businessman were arrested for plotting in February to prevent Yayi from returning to Cotonou after a trip and to install a military regime.

Yayi, who recently completed a one-year term as chairman of the African Union, had traveled to Equatorial Guinea last month for a summit with South American leaders.

They were accused of an "attempted plot against internal security" of Benin.

Gbenameto said Colonel Pamphile Zomahoun along with prominent accountant and businessman Johannes Dagnon were in custody and investigations were continuing.

Dagnon, director of a major accounting firm in Cotonou, is a cousin of Talon, as well as his business ally.

Talon is widely believed to have helped finance Yayi's two presidential campaigns, but they have since fallen out.

He was arrested in December at his Paris residence on an international warrant issued by Benin and was forced to surrender his passport before being released. A Paris appeals court is due to take up the case this year.

There has been speculation that the alleged plot may have been linked to lucrative contracts involving the port and the cotton industry.

The president's niece, his personal doctor and a former commerce minister have been charged as key accomplices in the scheme, and the president's bodyguard was also detained for questioning.

On Monday, a lawyer for both Talon and Dagnon harshly criticized the coup allegations.

"Instead of facing problems of power cuts, economic crises and others, here we are faced with another issue," Joseph Djogbenou told journalists.

Yayi, 60, is an economist who first took office in 2006 and won re-election in 2011 with 53 percent of the vote.

His government has been criticised for what opponents call using the courts to silence opponents, including in the media and private sector.

The government's supporters argue that the president has made enemies while working to flush out corruption.

Nine people, including a cabinet minister, have been arrested in recent months over an alleged embezzlement scheme linked to abandoned plans to build a new parliament building.