I. Coast issues arrest warrant for key Gbagbo allies

Ivory Coast has issued international arrest warrants for Charles Ble Goude and other close aides of former president Laurent Gbagbo, the Abidjan prosecutor said Friday. "Arrest warrants have been issued against suspects on the run," including Ble Goude, who led Gbagbo's Young Patriots, and former government spokesman Ahoua Don Mello, the prosecutor Simplice Kouadio Koffi told a news briefing. Ble Goude, who long supported Gbagbo during his 10 years in power, was the firebrand leader of the youth movement held responsible for violence in Abidjan and elsewhere against foes of the former head of state. Gbagbo, defeated in an election in November last year, was arrested on April 11 for refusing to acknowledge defeat to Alassane Ouattara, which led to a stand-off of nearly five months and finally ended after weeks of armed conflict in the commercial capital.