Twitter is a-twitter with reports that Laurent Gbagbo has been arrested by French troops and handed over the pro-Ouattara forces.
The arrest comes after a French-led ground assault on the bunker housing Cote D’Ivoire’s illegitimate leader Laurent Gbagbo. UN and French helicopters pounded the residence overnight with missiles and heavy caliber weapons. French troops mounted an assault and have apparently turned Gbagbo over to forces loyal to legitimate President Alassane Outtara.
This is very much developing. More soon.
UPDATE: Some details are emerging of the Gbagbo’s Last Stand. Alan Le Roy, the Head of UN Peacekeeping, just briefed the press outside the Security Council. Le Roy said that on Saturday mortars fired from Gbagbo’s compound landed near the UN peacekeeping headquarters and near the Golf Hotel, which has served as Outtara’s home since the disputed election. Then, yesterday, Ban Ki Moon personally ordered an assault on Gbagbo’s heavy weapons by UNOCI’s attack helicopters. Ban asked the UN-mandated French forces to assist.
Le Roy told reporters that it was Outtara’s forces–not French or the UN–that entered the compound and arrested Gbagbo and his wife.
In a somewhat ironic turn of events, Gbagbo and his wife are now in the custody of Outtara in the Golf Hotel–the very same hotel that Gbagbo apparently tried to bomb just two days ago. Deeper still, Le Roy said that Gbagbo asked UNOCI for protection while in detention at the Golf Hotel and UN peacekeepers are now guaranteeing the personal safety of Gbagbo and his wife.