Airport authorities in Basel have confiscated the airplane of Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president of Ivory Coast, media reports in Switzerland said Sunday. According to an initial report on NZZ Online, the block on letting the presidential plane return to West Africa was being done at the request of France and Gbagbo's presidential rival, Alassane Ouattara.
Basel airport is jointly operated by Switzerland and France. A Swiss official confirmed only that the presidential plane was indeed on the airfield, but provided no further details.