Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo was arrested Monday by Alassane Ouattara’s forces and led to the Golf Hotel, Ouattara’s headquarters in Abidjan, said French Ambassador Jean-Marc Simon.
“Laurent Gbagbo was arrested by Republican Forces in Ivory Coast (FRCI pro-Ouattara) and led by FRCI to the Golf Hotel”, said Simon.
“Laurent Gbagbo was arrested Monday at his home in Abidjan by rival Alassane Ouattara’s forces and not by French special forces”, a French diplomatic source confirmed to AFP, after a representative of Gbagbo for Europe announced that he was arrested by the French special forces and delivered to the rebels.
“Gbagbo was arrested by troops of Ouattara, not the French special forces, which were not inside the residence” of the Ivorian President in office, said the diplomatic source, denying reports that he had been arrested by soldiers of the Licorne force.
“Gbagbo is now in the hands of troops loyal to Ouattara”, added the source.
A spokesman for the president Alassane Ouattara, supported by almost the entire international community, said in Abidjan that Gbagbo and his wife is at Golf Hotel, headquarters of Ouattara.
This arrest comes after a new round of attacks by France and the UN on the residence where Gbagbo had retreated, refusing to surrender, and after more than four months of bloody post-election crisis.