Ivory Coast’s Laurent Gbagbo returns home after war crimes acquittal
- The ex-president left the country in 2011 after his refusal to accept electoral defeat sparked a conflict that ended in his arrest and transfer to The Hague
- The 76-year-old’s homecoming will be a key test of stability in Ivory Coast, the wealthiest country in francophone West Africa

Former president Laurent Gbagbo was returning to Ivory Coast on Thursday for the first time in nearly a decade, after he was cleared of crimes against humanity and his once-bitter rival welcomed him back in the name of reconciliation.
Gbagbo left the country in humiliation in 2011, after his refusal to accept electoral defeat sparked a conflict that ended in his arrest and transfer to The Hague.
The 76-year-old’s homecoming will be a key test of stability in Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer and the wealthiest country in francophone West Africa.

Gbagbo boarded a commercial flight to Abidjan from Brussels on Thursday morning, said his spokesman Justin Katinan Kone.
Gbagbo was ousted in April 2011 after around 3,000 people died in the months-long conflict that followed his refusal to accept electoral defeat at the hands of Alassane Ouattara, the current president.
Today, Gbagbo has been recast in the role of statesman, called upon to help national reconciliation after elections last year left scores dead.