Ouattara's Men Arrest Gbagbo

A French Embassy official confirms reports
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 11, 2011 9:04 AM CDT
Updated Apr 11, 2011 10:21 AM CDT
Laurent Gbagbo Captured in Ivory Coast, Delivered to Opposition Leaders
Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, center, arrives accompanied by security officers for a photo opportunity in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in this Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010 file photo.   (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

A day after UN and French helicopters began attacking Laurent Gbagbo's compound, the Ivory Coast strongman has been detained and delivered to opposition leaders. Forces loyal to democratically elected leader Alassane Ouattara captured Gbagbo after an attack by French forces, the AP reports. The French deployed tanks for the first time today near the bunker where Gbagbo was reportedly holed up; the prime minister says the former leader gave up when Ouattara's troops entered his compound.

French forces were on the perimeter, but one of Ouattara's advisers says Ivorian forces actually arrested Gbagbo. A French forces spokesperson adds that no French soldiers were at his residence. An eyewitness claims to have spotted Gbagbo and his family entering the Golf Hotel around midday—that's where Ouattara had been trying to run the presidency. The move comes after a week of heavy fighting, and more than four months after Gbagbo lost the election but refused to leave the presidency. (More Laurent Gbagbo stories.)

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