Ex-Ivory Coast leader at Belgian airport, likely headed home

The former president of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, appears to be returning to his home country for the first time in nearly a decade after being acquitted by the International Criminal Court

BRUSSELS -- The former president of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, checked in at Belgium’s main airport on Thursday, his lawyer said, ready to fly to his home country for the first time in nearly a decade after being acquitted by the International Criminal Court. Gbagbo was not seen checking in by waiting media, but lawyer Habiba Toure told The Associated Press that he was finalizing his flight formalities and had headed into the departures area of Brussels airport through a protocol entrance. A commercial flight transiting through Felix Houphouet-Boigny International Airport in Ivory Coast’s biggest city, Abidjan, was scheduled to leave at 10:55 am local time (0855 GMT). Gbagbo’s refusal to accept defeat in the 2010 presidential election sparked months of violence that killed at least 3,000 people and brought Ivory Coast to the brink of civil war. He has spent much of the past decade since his arrest in the Netherlands awaiting trial on charges of crimes against humanity.