<<Print>>

The former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo has good reason to be cheerful.

Last March, the International Criminal Court upheld his acquittal on charges of crimes against humanity.

And the current government in Abidjan says he is now free to return home, something he is expected to do later this month.

“There’s a certain nervousness about his coming back, because people don’t know what he has in mind now,” says the BBC’s Lalla Sy in the capital.

“The problem is what he wants from now: is he going to come back to his political life or is he going to be a quiet former president?”

So, will Mr Gbagbo get a hero’s welcome when he lands in Abidjan? And what does his return really mean for the country?