The United States has called on the Ivory Coast to use a 'transparent and legal mechanism' for holding ousted strongman Laurent Gbagbo to account for alleged human rights abuses as Gbagbo is moved to the north of the country.
"We've said all along that Laurent Gbagbo and anyone who has been involved in possible human rights abuses should be held accountable for their actions," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
"And so we would urge for a transparent and legal mechanism for that to take place," he said.
Alassane Ouattara, the internationally-recognized winner of November 28 elections, has vowed to prosecute Gbagbo, who officials said was moved on Wednesday from Abidjan to the north of the country where he is under UN guard.
"Now it's time for Ivorians to turn the page and to move forward under the leadership of President Ouattara," Toner said.
"We believe he has a good plan for the country, both to help it rejuvenate economically, but also to stabilize politically. And we urge all Ivorians to get behind him and to support him in his efforts," Toner said.
William Fitzgerald, a senior State Department official, told reporters meanwhile that Phillip Carter, the US ambassador in the Ivory Coast, has been pushing reform of the security sector, adding Ouattara did not yet control all the security forces who support him.
Gbagbo flown to northern Ivory Coast: UN
Laurent Gbagbo was moved on Wednesday from Abidjan to the north of the country where he remains under UN guard, officials said.
Gbagbo had been at the official headquarters of his arch-rival President Alassane Ouattara, in Ivory Coast's main city, since his capture on Monday.
A spokesman for the UN mission in Ivory Coast said that Gbagbo was flown to the north of the country. The UN Security Council, meeting in New York, was also told of the move.
"We have been informed that former president Gbagbo has been transferred in the last hours to a presidential residency in the north of the country," Nestor Osorio, Colombia's UN envoy and Security Council president for April, told reporters.
He added that Gbagbo "is very well taken care of."
Ouattara, when commenting on the move, said that Gbagbo is "well secured" but added that as "a former head of state, he must be treated with consideration."
UN peacekeepers are to ensure Gbagbo's security during his detention while the new government decides on legal proceedings against the former strongman leader.
Gbagbo refused to acknowledge Ouattara's victory in a November presidential election, sparking unrest in which hundreds were killed.
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