Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo moved from Abidjan, UN says

BBC News
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13056546?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter)


12 April 2011 Last updated at 13:08 ET


The former president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, has been moved out of the main city of Abidjan a day after his arrest, a UN spokesman has said.



The spokesman did not say where Mr Gbagbo had gone but said UN troops were with him to guarantee his security.

He was detained after a week-long siege by forces loyal to his rival, the UN-recognised president Alassane Ouattara.

Mr Ouattara has promised that Mr Gbagbo will not be harmed, but Abidjan remains unstable with sporadic gunfire heard.

There are reports that some soldiers and militiamen loyal to Mr Gbagbo have refused to surrender, despite his call for an end to the fighting.

Mr Gbagbo and his wife, Simone, were taken to Mr Ouattara's headquarters at the Golf Hotel in Abidjan immediately after his arrest.

But UN spokesman Farhan Haq told a news conference in New York on Tuesday that UN peacekeepers had since "helped to move him to another place in Ivory Coast where he is secure".

Mr Haq said only that the new location was outside Abidjan. UN troops would remain with Mr Gbagbo "to ensure his safety", he added.

The head of UN peacekeeping operations, Alain Le Roy, said on Monday that Mr Ouattara might move Mr Gbagbo to his stronghold in the north.

On Monday evening, Mr Ouattara said "all measures" would be taken to ensure the "physical integrity" of Mr Gbagbo and his wife.

He said he had asked his justice minister to launch legal proceedings would be started against them and their aides.

"They will be treated with dignity and their rights will be respected."

Mr Ouattara also announced that a truth and reconciliation commission would be set up to "shed light on all the massacres, crimes, and all cases of human rights violation". Both sides have been accused of atrocities.


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