SPORADIC gunfire rang out after Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara called on all fighters to put down their arms now that the country’s long time strongman has been captured following a months-long deadly power struggle.

Ivory Coast’s strongman leader Laurent Gbagbo holed up in a bunker defiantly maintaining he won the election four months ago even as troops backing the internationally recognised winner encircled the presidential residence.

Negotiators are close to convincing Ivory Coast’s embattled leader Laurent Gbagbo to leave office, according to the French foreign minister.

The United Nations Security Council has demanded an immediate end to the escalating violence in Ivory Coast and imposed sanctions on Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to relinquish the presidency, and his inner circle.

International pressure mounted on Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo today to accept defeat following the country’s disputed election, a day after the constitutional council led by one of his allies overturned results deemed credible by independent observers.