KORHOGO: Ivory Coast's former leader Laurent Gbagbo was headed for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, facing trial for the conflict that followed his refusal to yield power.
The former president, who will be the first former head of state to be surrendered to the ICC, left shortly after 6:00 pm (1800 GMT) from the northern town of Korhogo, Abidjan prosecutor Simplice Kouadio Koffi told AFP.
Gbagbo's plane would fly to Abidjan and then on to the Netherlands where it was expected to arrive overnight in Rotterdam to be handed over to ICC officials, a source close to the matter told AFP.
One of Gbagbo's lawyers, Jean Gbougnon, earlier told AFP that the ICC prosecutor had served an international arrest warrant on his client.
Gbagbo, 66, had appeared on Monday before an investigating magistrate in Korhogo, northern Ivory Coast, where he has been held since his arrest in Abidjan on April 11, Gbougnon said.
On Tuesday he was informed of his imminent transfer, less than two weeks before legislative elections set for December 11.
The leaders of three small pro-Gbagbo parties announced they were pulling out of the vote in protest, arguing his transfer would hamper national reconciliation.
A former Gbagbo aide, Bernard Oudin, also denounced the move.
"The whole world should know that we are sending to The Hague one of the few genuinely democratic leaders in Africa, the man who brought multi-party politics to Ivory Coast," he told French television.
Gbagbo had been deposed on the orders of France, he argued.
"It's a purely political affair. President Gbagbo has committed no crime against humanity."
And in Paris, Lucie Bourthoumieux, another lawyer for Gbagbo said: "This decision by the International Criminal Court is illegal and goes against the interests of the country and of national reconciliation."
Last month, ICC judges allowed prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to probe alleged post-election war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by forces loyal to both Gbagbo and the new Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.
Ivory Coast's new rulers had been pressing for weeks to have Gbagbo transferred to The Hague, at times making his detention at ICC headquarters a condition for "reconciliation" in the deeply divided country.
Gbagbo faces charges on home soil for "economic crimes", allegedly committed during the political crisis and conflict triggered by his refusal to hand over power, which left about 3,000 people dead.
The United States said Tuesday the ex-leader had to face the consequences of his refusal to concede defeat in last year's presidential election.
"He now needs to be held accountable for any human rights abuses that he may have carried out," State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told reporters in Washington.
"I think any credible, transparent trial that holds him accountable for his actions can certainly be constructive in reconciliation efforts," Toner added.
Human Rights Watch called Gbagbo's ICC transfer a "major step toward ensuring justice" following the country's "horrific post-election violence.
"The ICC is playing its part to show that even those at the highest levels of power cannot escape justice when implicated in grave crimes," said Elise Keppler, HRW's senior international justice counsel in a statement.
But HRW also called on the ICC to make sure it investigated both sides as "the many victims of abuse meted out by the forces loyal to President Ouattara also deserve to see justice done."
Gbagbo's wife Simone has also been detained by the new Ivorian authorities at Odienne in the northwest of Ivory Coast. Dozens of his followers and close military and civilian aides are being held for assault, "violating the authority of the state" or economic crimes.
They include former prime minister Gilbert Ake N'Gbo and several former ministers; Gbagbo's son Michel Gbagbo, who has dual French and Ivorian nationality; the head of the former ruling party the Ivorian Popular Front, Pascal Affi N'Guessan; and several senior members of the former state security agencies.
Fadi el-Abdallah, spokesman for the ICC, the first permanent international court charged to pursue war crimes and crimes against humanity, told AFP the court could not comment on the matter until judges made their decision public.
During a visit to Abidjan on October 15, Moreno-Ocampo promised that his investigation would be "impartial" and would focus on three to six people who share the most responsibility in the post- election crisis.
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