Reuters: Ivory Coast's Gbagbo surrenders; asks U.N. protection

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By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY

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Update at 1:57 p.m. ET: Reuters news agency, quoting internal U.N. documents that its correspondent has seen, reports that Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo has surrendered and asked for U.N. protection.
Update at 11:54 a.m. ET: President Barack Obama said today he welcomed the role of the U.N. and French forces in Ivory Coast.
"To end this violence and prevent more bloodshed, former President Gbagbo must stand down immediately, and direct those who are fighting on his behalf to lay down their arms," Obama said in a statement, the AP reports. "Every day that the fighting persists will bring more suffering, and further delay the future of peace and prosperity that the people of Cote d'Ivoire deserve."
Update at 10:25 a.m. ET: French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe says in Paris that negotiators are close to convincing strongman Laurent Gbagbo to leave the Ivory Coast now that his forces have been beaten.
Update at 9:13 a.m. ET: The U.N. special representative in the Ivory Coast tells Al-Jazeera TV that "the war is over" and that strongman Laurent Gbagbo has surrendered. "He is in a basement and is ready to surrender," says Y. P. Choi, who is the special representative of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. He says Gbagbo's top generals have all defected and his fighters have "simply melted away." Choi says U.N. officials are now trying to find out Gbagbo's terms of surrender, but that the fighting has ceased, except perhaps for some isolated units who have not gotten the word.

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Update at 8:44 a.m. ET: Reuters quotes Foreign Minister Alain Juppe as saying strongman Laurent Gbagbo is negotiating his departure from Ivory Coast. The report comes as forces backing democratically elected Alassane Ouattara overran the capital, Abidjan, and seized the presidential palace, driving Gbagbo into a bunker. Gbagbo had refused to leave office, despite the result of internationally recognized elections.
Update at 8:37 a.m. ET:The Guardian newspaper and Reuters report that Gbagbo's army has asked for a cease-fire. It quotes Gen. Phillipe Mangou, the chief of staff of Gbagbo's army, as saying flatly: "We've stopped fighting."
Update at 8:33 a.m. ET: The diplomat also says Gbagbo's closest adviser and longtime friend had abandoned him, leaving the bunker to seek refuge inside the French ambassador's home.
Earlier posting: Forces backing the democratically elected leader of Ivory Coast have seized the presidential home of the former president who has refused to give up power, a senior diplomat in Abidjan says, the Associated Press reports.
Strongman Laurent Gbagbo has taken refuge in a bunker as Alassane Ouattara's forces take over the capital, the source says.
United Nations and French forces opened fire with attack helicopters on Monday on Gbagbo's arsenal, as columns of foot soldiers allied with his challenger finally pierced the city limit.
See photos of: Ivory Coast