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Ivory Coast's Gbagbo Arrested In Abidjan

April 11, 2011

Ivorian leader Laurent Gbagbo has been arrested at his residence in Abidjan after four months of political deadlock in the former French colony in West Africa.

In New York, Ivory Coast's Ambassador to the United Nations, Youssoufou Bamba, told journalists at UN headquarters that Gbagbo will now be put on trial.

"It is my pleasure to announce officially that the former President of Cote d'Ivoire [Ivory Coast] Laurent Gbagbo has been arrested," Youssoufou Bamba, Ivory Coast's Ambassador to the United Nations, told journalists at UN headquarters in New York.

"He is well and alive and will be brought to justice," he added.

It was not immediately clear who captured Gbagbo.

A Gbagbo spokesman, Toussaint Alain, told the Reuters news agency that Gbagbo had been seized by French soldiers who handed him over to the opposition.

The French Embassy in Ivory Coast, however, said he had been arrested by opposition forces.

Gbagbo has been refusing to cede power to Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of presidential elections in November 2010.

UN peacekeepers have accused Gbabgo forces of endangering the civilian population, and had asked French troops in Ivory Coast to take action against the defiant leader's heavy weapons.

French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said Gbagbo's capture will finally bring peace and prosperity to the West African country.

compiled from agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ivory_coasts_gbagbo_arrested_in_abidjan/3553813.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.