PARIS: Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo was Tuesday negotiating his departure as rival forces cornered him in Abidjan, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said.

Juppe, asked by journalists about reports that Gbagbo was in talks to step down, replied: "I am aware (of such talks)."

The UN mission in the West African state said Gbagbo was hunkered down in a bunker at his residence in Abidjan, after calling for a ceasefire as rival forces cornered him.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011

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