Gbagbo faces ICC judges over poll bloodshed

or just over a week, prosecutors and the defence will argue their cases before a three-judge bench, who will then decide if there are "substantial grounds to believe that Gbagbo committed the crimes" and should be charged.

Cote d'Ivoire ex-president Laurent Gbagbo on Tuesday faces International Criminal Court judges who will decide whether there is enough evidence to try him for masterminding a bloody election standoff two years ago.

Presiding judge Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi is to open the hearings at the Hague-based court's headquarters at 14:30 pm (1330 GMT), with prosecutors expecting to launch their case later in the afternoon.

Mr Gbagbo, 67, the first-ever former head of state to appear before the ICC, faces four counts of crimes against humanity including murder and rape for fomenting a wave of violence which swept the west African nation after he refused to concede defeat in November 2010 presidential polls.

Four months of fighting followed, ravaging the world's largest cocoa producer and leaving some 3,000 people dead, according to the UN.

For just over a week, prosecutors and the defence will argue their cases before a three-judge bench, who will then decide if there are "substantial grounds to believe that Gbagbo committed the crimes" and should be charged.

The prosecution says Mr Gbagbo spearheaded a plan to "stay in power by all means... through carefully planned, sustained and deadly attacks" against supporters of election winner and current Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.

AFP