Abidjan, April 13: Ivory Coast’s ousted leader Laurent Gbagbo was under house arrest today as newly-installed President Alassane Ouattara fought to impose his authority amid fresh outbreaks of gunfire on the streets.
As US President Barack Obama phoned Ouattara to congratulate him on finally taking office, the new Ivorian government announced that the man who had refused to cede power until being captured on Monday would remain in detention.
“Pending the opening of a judicial inquiry, Mr.
Laurent Gbagbo and some of his companions have been placed under house arrest,” Justice Minister Jeannot Ahoussou-Kouadio said in a statement.
The government did not say where Gbagbo was being held, nor who the “companions” were.
The Ouattara government has said it is determined that Gbagbo will face justice over the months of fighting that erupted after he refused to admit defeat in a November president election he was widely regarded as having lost.
-Agencies