Ivory Coast’s Ouattara to meet former president and rival Gbagbo

Presidential palace meeting to be first since forces loyal to two men fought bloody post-election conflict 10 years ago.

Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara is due to meet his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, for the first time since forces loyal to them fought a bloody post-election conflict 10 years ago. Gbagbo returned home last month, after winning a landmark case at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The 76-year-old, who was elected president in 2000, rejected defeat by Ouattara in a 2010 presidential ballot. More than 3,000 people were killed in the months of fighting that ensued between forces loyal to the two men, before Gbagbo’s arrest in April 2011 and subsequent transfer to the ICC to face charges of crimes against humanity, of which he was eventually acquitted.