Gbagbo being held by Ouattara forces

Gbagbo being held by Ouattara forces

French armoured vehicles and tanks were seen advancing on Gbagbo's residence ahead of his capture [Reuters]

Cote d'Ivoire's Laurent Gbagbo has surrendered to the forces of presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara and is being held by them, the United Nations has said.
"The United Nations mission in Cote d'Ivoire has confirmed that former President Laurent Gbagbo has surrendered to the forces of Alassane Ouattara and is currently in their custody," UN spokesman Farhan Haq said on Monday.

Haq said the UN mission, known as UNOCI, was "providing protection and security in accordance with its mandate."

He told Reuters that UNOCI was mandated to protect political stakeholders in Cote d'Ivoire, which included Gbagbo.
Early reports said Gbagbo was arrested after a raid by French forces on a bunker at his residence in Abidjan.

Toussaint Alain, a Gbagbo advisor, told the Reuters news agency that the incumbent president had been "arrested by French special forces in his residence" and "handed over to the rebel leaders".

Jean Marc Simon, the French ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire, confirmed the capture to the AFP news agency, saying that he was detained by soldiers loyal to Ouattara.

A Ouattara spokesman told Al Jazeera that Gbagbo, along with his wife and several advisors, was being held at the Golf Hotel, which has been Ouattara's headquarters since a disputed presidential poll in late November.
Youssoufou Bamba, Cote d'Ivoire's ambassador to the United Nations, said that Gbagbo was "alive and well", and that he would "be brought to justice for the crimes he has committed".

A pro-Ouattara television station showed footage of Gbagbo being brought into the Golf Hotel shortly after news of his capture broke. Footage of him receiving medical treatment was also shown.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, spoke with Ouattara on the telephone at length shortly after Gbagbo's arrest, the Elysee palace said.

William Hague, the British foreign minister, greeted the news by saying that Gbagbo must be "treated with respect and any judicial process that follows should be a fair and properly organised judicial process".
Earlier on Monday, a column of more than 30 French armoured vehicles and tanks were seen advancing towards Gbagbo's residence.

Residents told the Associated Press that they had seen at least 10 armoured vehicles flying the French flag driving through the area around Gbagbo's residence, with two tanks seen taking up positions at a key intersection.

Forces loyal to Gbagbo were seen fleeing the area, as the French forces advanced.
Meanwhile, forces loyal to Ouattara attacked positions around the state television station [which is still controlled by Gbagbo] and his home.
A French military representative denied that French operations had been co-ordinated with Ouattara's forces.
Clashes between French and pro-Gbagbo forces were also reported from around the nearby Plateau business district.

Helicopter attacks
Earlier in the day and through Sunday night, UN and French helicopters fired rockets at Gbagbo's residence in Abidjan.

The battle for Abidjan

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Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from the city, said five helicopters were used in the attack on Sunday and that they flew from a French airbase.

After flying to the Cocody area, where the presidential residence is located, they fired their rockets and returned to the airbase to reload. The process was then repeated.

Two residents from nearby neighborhoods saw two UN Mi-24 attack helicopters and a French helicopter open fire on the residence, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said he has given orders to use "all necessary means" to stop Gbagbo''s heavy weapons.

"The continued use of heavy weapons against the civilian population and our peacekeepers, as well as the attack against the headquarters of the legitimate government, have compelled me, once again, to instruct UNOCI to use all necessary means to prevent the use of these weapons, pursuant to Security Council resolutions 1975 (2011) and 1962 (2010)," Ban said in a statement.

"We are pursuing our operation to neutralise Gbagbo heavy weapons. We had to stop the operation for a couple of days to evaluate and have realised that there are still some heavy weapons that they had used against civilians and the UN," Hamadoun Toure, a UN spokesman, said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Sunday, Toure said UN helicopters were only targeting heavy weapons sites and not Gbagbo himself.
"We are not trying to take control of his residence ... Our objective is not to capture anybody," Toure said.