[ 2011-04-12 ]

Mr Ouattara has appealed to Ivorians to "abstain from all reprisals and violence".

Gunfire in Abidjan despite Gbagbo arrest
Sporadic gunfire can be heard in Ivory Coast's
main city, Abidjan, a day after former President
Laurent Gbagbo was arrested.

The BBC's Mark Doyle in the city says it is not
clear whether pro-Gbagbo forces or criminals are
responsible.

But he has also heard at least one mortar round
being fired.

Mr Gbagbo was seized after refusing to accept
defeat in last year's elections. His successor,
Alassane Ouattara, has appealed for the violence
to end.

Our correspondent says Mr Ouattara's first
priority will be to restore security.

A joint operation by pro-Ouattara forces, the UN
and French military captured Mr Gbagbo from his
official residence, where he had been under siege
for more than a week.

Mr Ouattara said Mr Gbagbo would be put on trial,
and said a truth and reconciliation commission
would be set up.

Both sides have been accused of atrocities.

At least 1,000 people have been killed and a
million forced from their homes during the
four-month stand-off in the world's largest cocoa
producer.

The UN and French forces intervened after they
accused Mr Gbagbo's forces of using heavy
artillery against civilians.

The UN, which helped organise the elections, said
Mr Ouattara won, but Mr Gbagbo refused to accept
defeat.

'New era'

Our correspondent says some Abidjan residents are
still too afraid to leave their homes in case they
are caught by gunmen.

Many residents have been trapped for days by the
fighting.

Some pro-Gbagbo troops may have refused to
surrender, or the shooting could be coming from
some of the thousands of Gbagbo supporters who
were given weapons to fight the pro-Ouattara
forces, our correspondent says.

There are hardly any police on the streets.

The pro-Ouattara forces, who swept down from their
northern strongholds earlier this month, include
army defectors, as well as ethnic militiamen and
traditional hunters, who may not always obey
orders or respect military discipline, analysts
say.

An end to the insecurity would allow markets to
re-open and people to return to their homes.

For life to return to normal, banks must also
open.

They have been closed for more than two months
because of financial sanctions imposed on Mr
Gbagbo to try to force him from power.

Gbagbo son beaten

Speaking on his TV channel hours after Mr Gbagbo's
capture, a sombre Mr Ouattara appealed to Ivorians
to "abstain from all reprisals and violence".

"After more than four months of post-electoral
crisis, marked by so many human lives lost, we are
finally at the dawn of a new era of hope," he
said.

Mr Gbagbo, his wife Simone and his "collaborators"
would be investigated by the judicial authorities,
Mr Ouattara promised. The personal security of Mr
Gbagbo and his family would be guaranteed, he
added.

The country had just turned a painful page in its
history but better times were on the way, the new
president declared.

Mr Gbagbo and his wife have been put under UN
police guard at Abidjan's Golf Hotel, where Mr
Ouattara has his headquarters.

Mr Gbagbo has been shown on pro-Ouattara TV
sitting in a room, looking dazed but apparently
uninjured, wearing an open shirt and white vest.

But French TV showed pro-Ouattara forces beating
his son, Michel, and other Gbagbo supporters.

Source - BBC

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