ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – Forces stormed the bunker where Ivory Coast’s strongman Laurent Gbagbo hung on to power Monday, arresting the man whose refusal to hand over the presidency to the election winner left hundreds dead and threatened to re-ignite a civil war in the world’s largest cocoa producer.
Gbagbo’s dramatic arrest came after days of heavy fighting during which French and U.N. helicopters fired rockets at his presidential residence. Forces backing the internationally recognized winner Alassane Ouattara had begun a rapid offensive to oust Gbagbo late last month.
Issard Soumahro, a pro-Ouattara fighter at the scene, told The Associated Press that the ground offensive to seize Gbagbo came after the French launched airstrikes until at least 3 a.m. Monday.
“We attacked and forced in a part of the bunker. He was there with his wife and his son,” Soumahro said.
He added that Gbagbo was tired and had been slapped by a soldier, but was not otherwise hurt.
Gbagbo was interrogated and brought to the Golf Hotel, where Ouattara has been trying to run his presidency since the Nov. 28 vote. Officials were waiting for him to sign a document that formally hands power over to Ouattara, Soumahro said. TV footage from the Golf Hotel showed Gbagbo in a white sleeveless undershirt, and then donning a colorful print shirt.
“The nightmare is over for the people of Ivory Coast,” Ivory Coast’s U.N. ambassador said.
