Aboudramane Sangaré

Sangaré first met future President Laurent Gbagbo in 1970 while both were students at the University of Abidjan.[2] In 1971, both were imprisoned by the government of then-President Felix Houphouet-Boigny for their opposition to his government.[2] During the 1980s, Sangare and Gbagbo began to set up their clandestine opposition party. Gbagbo, Sangare, and other allies co-founded the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) in 1988.[2] The party was legalized in 1990.

The government of then-President Henri Konan Bédié imprisoned Sangare from 1994 to 1995.[2]

Laurent Gbagbo became President of Ivory Coast in 2000. He appointed Sangare Foreign Minister from October 2000 to March 2003.[2] The duo remained close after Sangare left office and became head of the FPI.[2]

Sangare remained a close loyalist of former President Gbagbo, former First Lady Simone Gbagbo, and their family even after the ex-president's arrest and trial by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes.[2] Sangare denounced the arrest and extradition of Gbagbo to the ICC in The Hague, describing the former president as a "hostage".[2] Sangare also led boycotts of subsequent Ivorian national elections to call for the release of Gbagbo.[2] He and his faction of the FPI condemned the government of President Alassane Ouattara as "undemocratic" at rallies calling for Gbagbo's release.[2] Gbagbo remains on trial for crimes against humanity, as of 2019.

Sangare, who suffered from cancer, was hospitalized at the Hôtel Dieu hospital in Abidjan in October 2018.[2] He died in the same hospital just fifteen days later on November 3, 2018, at the age of 72.[2][3]

According to Radio France Internationale, Sangare's death dealt a significant blow to the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party.[2] The RFI described Sangara as "one of the most respected members" within the FPI and an important ally of the Gbagbos.[2] Sangare was president of a dissident, pro-Gbagbo faction of the FPI at the time of his death.[2]

Sangare's death came just ten days after the unexplained disappearance of another major FPI leader, former director general of the port of Abidjan, Marcel Gossio.[2]