ABIDJAN—EMBATTLED Ivory Coast President, Laurent Gbagbo, has surrendered and asked for United Nations protection, an internal U.N. document said.

The document seen by Reuters, yesterday, said: “…President Gbagbo has also surrendered and has asked UNOCI’s protection.”

Gbagbo, who refused to step aside since an election last November, was under fierce attack in Abidjan from the forces of Alassane Ouattara, widely recognised internationally as the winner backed by U.N. and French helicopter airstrikes.

But Gbagbo holed up in a bunker inside the presidential residence, Tuesday, defiantly maintained he won the election four months ago even as troops backing the internationally recognized winner encircled the home.

Gbagbo’s comments by telephone to France’s LCI television came as French officials and a diplomat said he was negotiating his departure terms after French and U.N. forces launched a military offensive, Monday. Democratically elected leader Alassane Ouattara has urged his supporters to take Gbagbo alive.

Talks about Gbagbo’s departure terms were ongoing, yesterday, evening directly between Gbagbo and Ouattara, according to a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

France’s foreign minister said Gbagbo would be required to relinquish power in writing after a decade as president, and must formally recognize Ouattara, the internationally backed winner of the November election that plunged the West African nation into chaos.

But Gbagbo showed no intention of leaving, declaring in his interview with French television, that Ouattara “did not win the elections” though he was declared the victor by the U.N., African Union, United States, former colonial power France and other world leaders.

Gbagbo said by telephone: “I won the election and I am not negotiating my departure.” The French channel said the interview was conducted by phone from his residence at 1730 GMT, and lasted about 20 minutes.

French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, told French legislators he had spoken to UN secretary general Ban Ki_moon and they agreed that “the departure of Gbagbo be preceded by the publication of a document with his signature in which he renounces power.”

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, urged Alassane Ouattara in a telephone call earlier Tuesday to form a national unity government as soon as possible, according to the French foreign minister, Alain Juppe. “I can testify…to a conversation between the president of the republic and Mr. Ouattara this morning in which Nicolas Sarkozy (left) asked Ouattara to quickly take the initiative by calling for reconciliation, pardon and the constitution of a national union,”the minister said.

Juppé, has been briefing French MPs. He said France had been acting strictly in conformity with UN resolutions, that fighting has come to a stop and that the end is in sight. President Barack Obama has also called on Gbagbo to step down immediately.

It looked like Gbagbo had been abandoned by all except for a handful of supporters and relatives as he negotiated his surrender, AP said.

Hamadoun Toure, spokesman for the UN mission to Ivory Coast said by phone: “One might think that we are getting to the end of the crisis. We spoke to his close aides, some had already defected, some are ready to stop fighting. He is alone now, he is in his bunker with a handful of supporters and family members. So is he going to last or not? I don’t know.”

AP said Ouattara has urged forces loyal to him to take Gbagbo alive. Juppe said he believed Ouattara, recognised by the international community as the winner of November’s presidential election, was a democrat and keen to achieve the peaceful reconciliation of the country which is the world’s largest cocoa producer, and split by a 2002_2003 civil war.

Asked whether Laurent Gbagbo should be allowed to remain in Ivory Coast if he resigned from office, Juppe replied: “That is up to the Ivorian authorities to decide. We have asked (the United Nations force) UNOCI to ensure his physical safety and that of his family.”

Some more eyewitness details from Abidjan back up reports that fighting is over and control of the city has firmly shifted. Four French tanks and several armoured personnel vehicles crossed bridges formerly held by forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo in Ivory Coast’s main city Abidjan on Tuesday, according to a Reuters correspondent.

The bridges link the northern administrative and financial district of the city to the south where the airport and French army base is located.

The tanks and armoured personnel carriers were flying the French flag with a Red Cross vehicle behind them flying a white flag.

Defeated Gbagbo was in a bunker at his home with his family, negotiating terms of surrender, according to officials. The French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, said he had spoken to UN secretary general Ban Ki_moon and they agreed that Gbagbo sign a document in which he renounces power. Barack Obama has called on Gbagbo to step down immediately.

Oxfam has just launched a £10m appeal for Ivory Coast. It said thousands of people are reported to be making their way to the border area after the latest battles and violence against civilians. There are already more than 100,000 refugees who have fled to remote border villages in Liberia where Oxfam has set up water and sanitation facilities. The group is sending a team of experts this week to evaluate how to respond to the crisis.