Ivory Coast ex-president released to Belgium

Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is now in Belgium under conditional release after being acquitted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) last month.

"Gbagbo is now released under conditions in Belgium," an ICC spokeswoman said on Tuesday without giving further details.

The conditions include that Gbagbo will return to court if required for a possible prosecution appeal against the acquittal and that the 73-year-old surrenders his passport to Belgian authorities.

The former leader was charged with crimes against humanity following a disputed 2010 election that left 3,000 people dead and 500,000 displaced.

He was the first former head of state to stand trial at the ICC.

The violence in Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa producer, came after Gbagbo refused to accept that he had lost a disputed election run-off to his rival Alassane Ouattara.

UN and French-backed forces eventually captured Gbagbo in a presidential palace bunker in 2011.

Prosecutors said he had clung to power "by all means" and charged him with four counts of crimes against humanity, murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution and "other inhumane acts".

The former president denied the charges, which he said were politically motivated.

On Saturday, Belgium said it would in principle host Gbagbo pending a possible appeal after he was cleared of crimes against humanity on January 15.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said on Saturday that there had been "a request from the court to host Gbagbo simply because he has family in Belgium: his second wife, a child in Brussels".

"We have concluded that it is alright for him to stay in Belgium while on conditional release," he said, adding: "There will be surveillance."

The delay in Gbagbo's release was because prosecutors said that he should be kept in detention pending a possible appeal against his acquittal, arguing that he would not return to the court if there was a retrial.

Appeals judges rejected the prosecution argument on Friday after Belgium said it was ready to host him.