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Laurent Gbagbo has succumbed to the power of the president’s rivals Alassane Ouattara and was controlled by the rebels. United Nations confirmed.
Prior to this, UN and French forces carried out aerial bombardment on Gbagbo, followed by a ground attack by 30 French armored vehicles on Gbagbo’s residential area in the Cocody district of Abidjan, and Gbagbo was eventually captured.
But France and United Nations Forces Denies involvement in the actual arrest of Gbagbo, who was detained along with dozens of his soldiers at Ouattara’s base at the Golf Hotel.
Hamad Touré, spokesman for the United Nations Mission in Côte d’Ivoire, told Channel 4 News that Gbagbo and his wife Simone were captured separately by the Republican Army led by Ouattara.
“I can assure you 100 percent that there are no United Nations soldiers involved in this ground operation,” he said.
French government sources also tried hard to stress that the French military was not involved in the operation to capture Gbagbo.
I can assure you that we have removed Laurent Gbagbo. We have been waiting for four months for this historic day. The dictator has finally stepped down. Marc Touré, spokesman for Ouattara
The source said: “Mr Gbagbo was indeed arrested by Ouattara’s troops, but not by French special forces, who did not enter the palace’s walls.”
But his statement contradicted that of Gbagbo’s spokesman Toussaint Allan, who said Gbagbo had been arrested by French special forces at his residence and handed over to the rebel leadership.
Channel 4 News attributed the claim to Ouattara’s camp, who have been staying at the Golf Hotel for several months. Spokesman Marc Touré laughed off Alan’s claim that day, saying “This is entirely the work of Republican forces, who are using France’s claims for propaganda. No, I can assure you that we have removed Laurent Gbagbo. We have been waiting for this historic day for four months. The dictator has finally stepped down.”
“Gbagbo is finished. His army is finished. We have Blé Goudé (leader of Gbagbo’s Young Patriots), most of the other generals have also been arrested, they are all in the Golf Hotel,” he added.
He said Gbagbo would stand trial for alleged war crimes, while denying his side’s involvement in the massacre of up to 1,000 civilians in western Ivory Coast.
“We will bring Gbagbo to justice, we are not sure whether it will be through the international courts or the domestic courts, but in the meantime we are dealing with Gbagbo’s issue and making sure he pays for his crimes.”
Looking ahead, Touré said Ouattara “hopes” to unite the country, but he said there was “sporadic resistance” following the attack on the Golf Hotel, which took place three hours after Gbagbo’s arrest.
Read more: Channel 4 News coverage on the crisis in Ivory Coast
Alex Vines, who led a UN inspection team and lived there from 2005 to 2008, told Channel 4 News that unifying the country, which has been divided for more than a decade, is now a key task for Ouattara.
“At least 45.9% of Ivorians voted for Mr. Gbagbo, which means that a significant number of Ivorians do not support Ouattara. His task, therefore, is to mediate and bring the country together, which requires not only mediation but also the opening of judicial proceedings to examine allegations of human rights violations, including those committed by his own forces, such as those that occurred a few weeks ago in western Côte d’Ivoire.”
According to the results certified by the United Nations, Gbagbo’s opponent Alassane Ouattara won the presidential election last November, but Gbagbo refused to step down and civil war broke out again, killing more than a thousand people and displacing a million people.
Channel 4 News special report - Ivory Coast: divided nation
Push to overthrow Gbagbo
Hundreds of new pro-Ouattara troops gathered at a base camp north of Abidjan, where a minibus arrived loaded with new Kalashnikov rifles, still wrapped in transparent blue paper.
The French armored vehicles, each carrying four to eight personnel, left their southern base early Monday morning and headed for central Abidjan.
“The operation is ongoing. I cannot give you more details. The goal is to ensure that a bloodbath is avoided,” said Frederick Daguillon, a spokesman for French forces in Ivory Coast.
Hamad Touré, a spokesman for the United Nations mission in Congo, said on Sunday that UN and French forces were working to eliminate Gbagbo’s heavy weapons.
“We targeted and struck several different locations where we found heavy weapons, not just the area around Gbagbo’s residence but all the places where we knew there were heavy weapons,” Touré said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the UN headquarters in Ivory Coast, Ouattara’s base and two civilian areas had come under attack in recent days with machine guns, snipers and rocket-propelled grenades.
Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday: “These actions are unacceptable and cannot continue,” and authorized UN peacekeepers to take “all necessary means” to stop Gbagbo’s forces from using heavy weapons and protect civilians and peacekeepers.
More than a week ago, Ouattara’s forces met little resistance as they swept from the north to coastal Abidjan in an attempt to install Ouattara as president, but were met with fierce resistance in Abidjan.
Last week, as Mr. Gbagbo’s defeat seemed certain, the two sides held talks, but his soldiers held their ground and controlled much of the city, dashing hopes for a quick end to the conflict.
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