Douglas Stanglin
USA TODAY
April 5, 2011
Update at 1:57 p.m. ET: Reuters news agency, quoting internal U.N. documents that its correspondent has seen, reports that Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo has surrendered and asked for U.N. protection.
Update at 11:54 a.m. ET: President Barack Obama said today he welcomed the role of the U.N. and French forces in Ivory Coast.
“To end this violence and prevent more bloodshed, former President Gbagbo must stand down immediately, and direct those who are fighting on his behalf to lay down their arms,” Obama said in a statement, the AP reports. “Every day that the fighting persists will bring more suffering, and further delay the future of peace and prosperity that the people of Cote d’Ivoire deserve.”
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