Daily News Channel
The French Embassy in Ivory Coast announced on Monday that Ivory Coast security forces had arrested incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, after major fighting that had torn apart the city of Abidjan since March 31.
The woman had been trapped in her office for three days as fighting rocked the streets below and armed gangs roamed. Alexandra had survived on a package of cookies and two cans of soda.
The United Nations’ dramatic military operation in the Ivory Coast civil war came at a crucial juncture in the struggle between the country’s two Presidents. Over the weekend, forces supporting Allassane Ouattara, the man recognized as president by most of the international community, arrived at Abidjan, the city where both Ouattara and his rival Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent, were holed out.
First, the city was frozen in fear. Then came a day of fierce and hot battle, with a scorching chaos
For weeks, the U.N.’s mission in the Ivory Coast has sat pinned down in its quarters, watching as this West African country lurched toward civil war.
Heavy gun battles raged around the last bastions of Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo as the United Nations warned both sides to rein in their soldiers; the countdown to Gbagbo’s exit began. The boom of large weapons rang across the city as forces loyal to President-elect Alassane Ouattara targeted the two official presidential residences and the state broadcaster.