BOUAKE, Ivory Coast (Reuters) -Bullet-riddled buildings still line some streets in Ivory Coast's former rebel capital Bouake, but in the run-up to his third re-election bid President Alassane Ouattara is keen to turn the city into a symbol of recovery.

"Bouake is a city of past pain, but above all rebirth, unity and renewed brotherhood," the 83-year-old incumbent said in his Independence Day speech last week, ahead of a parade in which he waved to supporters from a black armoured convertible.

It was the first time Bouake hosted independence festivities in over 60 years, sending the message that "peace has returned" after the civil war that preceded Ouattara's swearing-in in 2011, said political analyst Geoffroy Julien Kouao.

Yet away from the pomp of official ceremonies, ex-combatants a

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