Pretoria - Cote d'Ivoire's former president Laurent Gbagbo arrived in Holland on Wednesday to stand trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over post-election killings in that country.
Gbagbo, the first former head of state to be tried by the ICC since the Hague-based tribunal was founded in 2002, will be put under ICC custody after his arrival at the Rotterdam airport.
The trial resulted from ICC's one-month-old probe into the killings, rapes and other crimes committed during the four months of clashes between pro-Gbagbo forces and supporters of Alassane Ouattara, now the country's president, that claimed more than 3 000 lives in Cote d'Ivoire.
The violence started after Gbagbo refused to hand over power after losing the presidential elections to Ouattara in November 2010.
Ivorian judiciary sources confirmed Gbagbo's departure for the ICC on Tuesday, hours after his lawyer Jean Gbougnon said an international arrest warrant had been issued on the ex-leader, who might be transferred to the ICC.
At least 80 associates of Gbagbo were also detained on charges of murder, economic crimes and threatening state security.
Gbagbo had been placed under house arrest since 11 April after the end of the political impasse following the presidential run-off in November 2010.
Ivory Coast is the seventh African country for which a probe has been launched by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was set up in The Hague in 2002. Others include Sudan, Kenya, Libya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic.
