The long-running stand-off between the disputed winner of November's presidential election, Laurent Gbagbo, and his rival, Alassane Ouattara, has come to a dramatic end with the storming of the presidential compound in the commercial capital, Abidjan, and the capture of Mr Gbagbo by rebel forces. The offensive launched in late March by the northern rebel army-reconstituted as the Forces républicaines de Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI)-met little resistance before coming up against a hardcore of pro-Gbagbo forces in Abidjan. This was followed by a tense siege of the national television station, two military camps and the presidential residence in Cocody, where Mr Gbagbo, his family and closest advisers took refuge in a bunker, protected by 200 elite troops (April 2011, The political scene). Despite repeated attempts to persuade Mr Gbagbo to surrender, he steadfastly refused to recognise Mr Ouattara as the winner of the November election, and once again tried to play for time, hoping to create a new stalemate while stirring up anti-colonial resentment against the rebels' international backers, the UN mission in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) and the French-run Opération Licorne. A series of counter-attacks by pro-Gbagbo forces-including a bombardment of Mr Ouattara's headquarters at the Golf Hotel with mortars-briefly put the rebels on the back foot, while pro-Gbagbo units caused panic in Cocody by attacking diplomatic residences, prompting the intervention of French and UNOCI forces to rescue diplomatic staff.