I.Coast's Gbagbo Candidate to Head Party as He Awaits ICC Trial

Ex-Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo, detained at the International Criminal Court, has been approved as a candidate to head his political party ahead of next year's presidential vote, the party said Wednesday.

A party committee has declared Gbagbo’s candidacy valid in the race to head the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), which the former president founded.

The candidacy of his opponent, Pascal Affi N'Guessan, the current head of the party, was also validated. N'Guessan has previously called on Gbagbo's name to be withdrawn due to his "specific situation."

The FPI plans to hold its congress from December 12-14.

Gbagbo, 69, faces four counts of crimes against humanity, allegedly committed at the end of his decade-long rule over the troubled west African country, after he refused to accept defeat in an election in November 2010.

His supporters clashed for five months with those of President Alassane Ouattara, who was proclaimed winner of the vote by the electoral commission, at a cost of at least 3,000 lives.

Gbagbo was arrested in April 2011 by pro-Ouattara forces with backing from former colonial power France and the United Nations.

He was transferred to the Hague the following November, becoming the first ex-head of state to face prosecution at the ICC.

Gbagbo is to go on trial on July 7 next year. Ivory Coast presidential elections are planned for October 2015.