Ivory Coast's former economy minister Paul-Antoine Bohoun Bouabre, who was linked to the disappearance of a well known French-Canadian journalist, has died in Israel, his family said Wednesday.

An aide of deposed strongman Laurent Gbagbo, Bohun Bouabre was one of the pillars of Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front party and his 2000-2011 regime.

"He died early Wednesday in Jerusalem," a family member said, adding that the 54-year-old had been ailing.

Bohoun Bouabre had been in exile in Israel for several months and was wanted in his country for economic crimes committed during his stewardship of the finances of the world's top cocoa grower.

He was linked to the 2004 disappearance of French-Canadian journalist Guy-Andre Kieffer, who had written several articles accusing Bohoun Bouabre of siphoning off funds.

The ex-minister had repeatedly denied accusations of corruption and of involvement in Kieffer's disappearance.

Kieffer, a specialist in the cocoa industry who was writing about corruption, disappeared after being last seen by his wife in a parking lot in Abidjan on April 16, 2004.

The lack of success in a probe into his disappearance worsened thorny relations between France and the regime of Gbagbo, who today stands accused of crimes against humanity and is being held by the International Criminal Court.

More recently, under President Alassane Ouattara, the probe took off again. A recently unearthed skeleton in the heart of the cocoa-growing region, about 360 kilometres (225 miles) from Abidjan, is thought to be Kieffer's.

DNA test results of the skeleton are still awaited.