U.N. diplomat: Ivory Coast's Gbagbo ready to quit

Embattled leader was in bunker trying to negotiate departure

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Sia Kambou  /  AFP - Getty Images

Laurent Gbagbo

NBC News and news services

updated 11 minutes ago

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ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo said he was willing to surrender and has asked for United Nations protection, according to a U.N. official.

The U.N. official, whom Reuters did not name, said Tuesday that Gbagbo was not physically in United Nations' custody but was still negotiating and had expressed a willingness to surrender.
"...President Gbagbo has also surrendered and has asked UNOCI's protection," according to a document to U.N staff, Reuters reported.
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Surrounded by troops backing Ivory Coast's democratically elected leader, Gbagbo has been huddled in a bunker with his family while trying to negotiate terms of surrender directly with his political rival, Alassane Ouattara, officials and diplomats said.
France's foreign minister said earlier that Gbagbo would be required to relinquish power in writing after a decade as president, and that he must formally recognize Ouattara, the internationally backed winner of the November election that plunged the West African nation into chaos.
Gbagbo had been talking about the terms for his departure directly to Ouattara, according to a diplomat who spoke to The Associated Presss on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
Story: UN evacuates 200 Ivory Coast staff after attacks French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said two Ivory Coast generals were involved in the negotiations about an exit from power for Gbagbo, who had clung to office since refusing to concede he lost last November's presidential election to Alassane Ouattara.
"As we speak we are speaking to two generals to negotiate President Gbagbo's surrender," Fillon told members of parliament in Paris.
Forces loyal to Ouattara on Tuesday seized the presidential residence, said a senior diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Ouattara has urged his supporters to take Gbagbo alive.
The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC News contributed to this report.