Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president of Cote d’Ivoire, has been arrested by French forces from his bunker in Abidjan.Toussaint Alain, a Gbagbo advisor, told the Reuters news agency that the incumbent president had been “arrested by French special forces in his residence” and “handed over to the rebel leaders”.

A delegation of five African presidents has arrived in the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi in a bid to end hostilities and negotiate a way out of the deepening crisis.

Forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, Cote d’Ivoire’s incumbent president, have fired mortars at the hotel where the Ivorian leader’s internationally recognised rival is based.The Golf Hotel, where Alassane Ouattara has been living protected by UN peacekeepers since last year’s disputed polls, came under attack on Saturday.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday Turkey was working on a “roadmap” to end the war in Libya which would include a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Muammar Gaddafi’s forces from some cities.

As fighting is raging between Libyan rivals, Muslim scholars have criticized Turkey’s role in the conflict, calling on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to side with the opposition forces against embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Soldiers loyal to Cote d’Ivoire’s strongman Laurent Gbagbo have asked for a ceasefire, in the face of an offensive to unseat him by internationally recognised president Alassane Ouattara, his army chief said.

Abdel Ati al-Obeidi, Libya’s acting foreign minister, has told the Greek prime minister in Athens that embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is seeking an end to fighting in the country.

The US-led foreign forces have killed at least two civilians in troubled southern Afghanistan amid growing public discontent over such attacks.The civilian couple was killed by foreign troops during a night raid in Zabul Province, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Hundreds of Afghans have staged a new rally in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar and other districts to condemn the desecration of the holy Qur’an by a radical pastor in the United States.

Afghan police say 10 foreign workers for the United Nations have been killed when a demonstration against the desecration of the holy Qur’an turned violent.