Rebuilding of Ivory Coast must be a global endeavor

After four months of refusing to bow to the will of the people and give up the presidency of the African nation of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo has run out of time.

Forces backing the democratically elected president, Alassane Ouattara, stormed the gates of Gbagbo’s residence in the capital city of Abidjan on Wednesday, but they couldn’t immediately get to the 65-year-old strongman. That’s because he’s holed up with his family in a tunnel originally built to connect the president’s home with the adjacent residence of the French ambassador.

Although anti-Gbagbo forces were not able to pry him out of hiding, he has no where to run.

The country has paid a high price for the former president’s intransigence. More than a thousand people have died or are missing since heavily armed government troops and pro-Ouattara fighters clashed in pitched battles in the capital city and in other parts of the country.

The bloodshed and the destruction will not be easily forgotten, but the normally tranquil West African country can recover with the help of the international community.

The United Nations, along with French troops — the country is a former French colony — are already involved. The siege of the presidential residence occurred after U.N. helicopters bombarded six arms depots, including a cache inside the compound.

In February, while the world was preoccupied with the popular uprising in Egypt that led to the departure of President Hosni Mubarak, we urged the international community not to ignore what was taking place in Ivory Coast. Last November, in open and fair elections, the people decided to end the 10-year brutal reign of Gbagbo and install Ouattara, an intellectual who has spent decades abroad.

But rather than a peaceful transition, the country was held hostage by a man who has shown a willingness to do whatever is necessary, including getting rid of his detractors, to hold on to the presidency.

Mass murder

Although the U.N. monitored the election, officials were expelled after the vote was announced. Hundreds of innocent Ivorians were murdered by government forces and others allied with Gbagbo.

The Associated Press conducted an investigation of the mass murders and found evidence of killings during the voting. Gbagbo and his henchmen turned the peaceful nation into a cauldron of hate.

The wire service obtained records from four of the nine morgues in the capital that showed 113 bullet-ridden bodies had been brought in since the election. The AP was denied access to the other morgues, including one where the U.N. believes 80 bodies were taken.

What is even more disconcerting is that the victims were mostly Muslims from the country’s north who supported Ouattara, a Muslim. Gbagbo is an evangelical Christian who purged Muslims from the armed forces.

Late last week, another 100 bodies were discovered by the U.N.

It is clear that there is much to be done to rebuild the Ivory Coast, both emotionally and physically. The United Nations cannot turn its back on this wounded country.

The former president has much to answer for in the International Court of Justice.