The party of former Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo is calling on its supporters to lay down their arms.
The leader of Mr. Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front called on party loyalists Saturday to stop fighting. He said the war has ended following Mr. Gbagbo’s arrest on Monday.
Mr. Gbagbo had refused to give up power after losing a November presidential election to President Alassane Ouattara. His refusal sparked a power struggle that the United Nations says killed hundreds of people and displaced more than a million others, including 135,000 who fled into neighboring Liberia.
In the past week, a sense of normalcy has begun to return to Ivory Coast’s main city of Abidjan. Running water and electricity have been restored in many neighborhoods, and some shops and businesses have reopened their doors. However, food remains scarce and widespread looting is still taking place.
The Ouattara government says Mr. Gbagbo is under house arrest at a villa somewhere in Ivory Coast but has not said where. Judicial proceedings have been launched against Mr. Gbagbo, his wife and close associates.
President Ouattara has vowed to hold accountable all those who committed crimes during the post-election unrest.
Both pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara forces have been accused of killing and raping civilians since the political crisis began last year.
