Laurent gbagbo
Ivory Coast's Gbagbo announces push for new party
Ivory Coast ex-president Laurent Gbagbo on Monday proposed setting up a new political party, his deeply divided Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) announced.
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara offered a hearty welcome to his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo on Tuesday as the rivals met for the first time since the West African country's deadly 2010-11 conflict, saying the turmoil was 'behind us'.
The long-awaited talks are widely seen in Ivory Coast as a key to easing the country's simmering political tensions.
Gbagbo's first comments on the trial and his acquittal since his return to Ivory Coast after a 10-year absence, was met with rousing cheers from supporters in his home village of Mama in southwest Ivory Coast.
The 76-year-old's homecoming will be a key test of stability in Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa producer and the wealthiest country in francophone West Africa.
Gbagbo was ousted in April 2011 after a war sparked by his refusal to accept electoral defeat at the hands of Alassane Ouattara, the current president.
The first head of state to stand trial at the tribunal, 75-year-old Gbagbo gave the thumbs up as appeals judges confirmed that he was finally in the clear over a wave of post-electoral violence in 2010-11.
Gbagbo, 75, and his former youth leader Charles Ble Goude were cleared of crimes against humanity in 2019 over a wave of post-electoral violence in the west African nation more than a decade ago.
The vote passed off peacefully and for the first time in a decade included all of the country's main political players, providing hope that Ivory Coast has begun to emerge from recent turbulence.
Gbagbo, 75, was ousted in April 2011 after refusing to concede electoral defeat to Ouattara, triggering violence that claimed around 3,000 lives.
Laurent Gbagbo was forced out by his rival, Alassane Ouattara, after a brief but bloody civil war that claimed some 3,000 lives.
In an interview published on Thursday by the French magazine 'Paris Match', the 78-year-old incumbent fired a verbal broadside at former president Laurent Gbagbo and ex-rebel chief Guillaume Soro.
Also barred was former rebel leader turned prime minister Guillaume Soro, 47, a onetime Ouattara ally who had been sentenced to 20 years in absentia over alleged embezzlement.
President Alassane Ouattara's decision to contest a third term in October has already triggered outrage among opposition and civil society groups, who labelled it a "coup" that risked triggering chaos.
The ICC, the world’s first permanent war crimes court, acquitted Gbagbo on crimes against humanity charges in January last year, saying prosecutors had failed to prove any case against him.
The ICC, the world’s first permanent war crimes court, acquitted Laurent Gbagbo on crimes against humanity charges on 15 January, saying prosecutors had failed to prove any case against him.
Laurent Gbagbo faced charges on four counts of crimes against humanity over the 2010-2011 bloodshed which following a disputed vote in the West African nation.
The court acquitted Gbagbo on crimes against humanity charges on 15 January saying prosecutors had failed to prove any case against him.
ICC judges acquitted Gbagbo and his aide Charles Ble Goude on charges stemming from a wave of violence after disputed elections in the west African nation in 2010.