Glimpses of the 2011 Ivory Coast unrest
Civilians raise their hands as they walk past a pro-Gbagbo soldier in a street around the presidential palace, which is under the soldiers control, in Abidjan April 3, 2011. Ivory Coast presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara rejected UN charges that his forces massacred hundreds of civilians in the west of Ivory Coast as fighting raged in Abidjan to dislodge incumbent Laurent Gbagbo. Reuters

Laurent Gbagbo, the apparently outgoing President of Ivory Coast has been arrested.

Mr Gbagbo refused to leave office last November after a presidential election in which his opponent Alassane Ouattara was declared the winner by both the Ivory Coast's election authorities and the United Nations.

Last week soldiers loyal to Mr Ouattara, aided by strikes by French and UN forces, appeared to be on the verge of toppling Mr Gbagbo, when they stormed the presidential residence in which Mr Gbagbo was said to be hiding.

An assistant to Mr Gbagbo is now saying that he has been arrested and is now being held by pro-Ouattara forces, reports Reuters. It is however unclear whether Mr Gbagbo was arrested by French or pro-Ouattara forces.

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