Former Ivory Coast militia leader Ble Goude returns home after exile

FILE PHOTO: Former Ivory Coast Youth Minister Charles Ble Goude speaks to the media after leaving the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

ABIDJAN (Reuters) -Charles Ble Goude, a former militia leader who was acquitted of crimes against humanity related to his role in Ivory Coast's civil war, returned from exile on Saturday as politicians sought to reconcile after years of instability and conflict.

Hundreds of supporters wearing clothes printed with Ble Goude's image sang and danced in the Yopougon suburb of Abidjan to welcome him home after eight years.