Gbagbo denies crimes against humanity

Former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo Thursday pleaded "not guilty" to four charges of crimes against humanity as his landmark trial opened five years after post-election violence ravaged his nation.

Gbagbo becomes the first ex-head of state to stand in the dock at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, in a case which will test the tribunal's avowed aim to deliver justice to the victims of the world's worst crimes.

Looking relaxed in a dark suit with a light blue shirt, the one-time west African strongman had arrived earlier in court, smiling and shaking hands with his defence team.

Prosecutors accuse Gbagbo and his co-accused, former militia leader Charles Ble Goude, of orchestrating a plan to cling to power in the world's top cocoa producer after being narrowly defeated by his bitter rival Alassane Ouattara in November 2010 elections. The ensuing violence claimed some 3,000 lives.

Gbagbo, 70, and Ble Goude, 44, both denied four charges of crimes against humanity, which accused them of organising "a common plan to maintain him as president by all necessary means".

Over the weeks the "implementation of the common plan had evolved to include an .. organizational policy to launch a widespread and systematic attack against civilians perceived to support Alassane Ouattara."

Such crimes included murders, rapes, other inhumane acts and persecution, the court registrar said Thursday, reading out the charges.

Amid lingering divisions over the events of 2010-2011, presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser vowed the ICC would "not allow this trial to be used as a political tool or implement in any way whatsoever."

"I can assure you that the chamber will assess all the evidence in a completely impartial fashion," he said, adding it was their "task to determine ... whether the charges are well established or not."