Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo has been captured by forces loyal to his rival Alassane Ouattara, who urged no reprisals or violence following the dramatic climax of a
months-long crisis.
Gbagbo was finally captured after spending days holed up in a bunker in his compound. But in the end the president who wouldn't give up power came quietly.
Soldiers tried to storm his presidential compound repeatedly, and were driven back. Then French and UN troops pounded the building and helped in the final assault on the heavily guarded residence.
Gbagbo, 65, was detained and taken to his rival's temporary hotel headquarters with his wife Simone and son Michel.
"The nightmare is over," Ouattara's prime minister, former rebel leader Guillaume Soro, said on the victorious camp's television channel, calling for any forces still loyal to Gbagbo to change sides.
Shirtless, pleading for his life
Television footage showed Gbagbo inside a room in the Golf Hotel along with several senior aides, wearing a vest, wiping himself down with a towel and then changing shirts. He appeared visibly tired but otherwise unharmed.
A fighter who witnessed his capture said Gbagbo had put up no resistance when finally confronted by one of the commanders of the pro-Ouattara forces.
"When he found himself face to face with Gbagbo, in front of his desk, the first thing Gbagbo said was 'Don't kill me!'" said the witness, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Across Ivory Coast people expressed jubilation that the Gbagbo chapter was finally over. Resident danced in the streets as the news spread.
