UNITED NATIONS, Dec 1 (AFP) - The United Nations is urgently reviewing
its
involvement in next week's elections in Ivory Coast, a spokesman said Friday
after opposition leader Alassane Ouattara was barred from taking part.
   The spokesman said that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was "dismayed by
the decision of the Ivorian Supreme Court to disqualify Mr. Ouattara from
participating in the December 10 election."
   He noted that Thursday's court ruling had led the Rally of Republicans
(RDR) to withdraw from the elections and to call for mass demonstrations in
the capital, Abidjan.
   Annan "has throughout been of the view that only an election with the
broadest possible participation will serve the cause of democracy and
stability in Ivory Coast," spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
   "The United Nations is urgently reassessing its involvement in the
observation of the elections," he added.
   On Tuesday, Eckhard had said the UN would coordinate international
observers and prepare instruction manuals and a code of conduct for them.
   The general election follows a controversial presidential poll on October
22 which brought Laurent Gbagbo to office after the country's military
leader,
General Robert Guei, tried to rig the result.
   In the uprising against Guei, 171 peopled were killed, according to
official figures.
   The Supreme Court had barred Ouattara, a former prime minister, from
standing in the presidential election, on the grounds that he had used the
nationality of Ivory Coast's northern neighbour Burkina Faso.
   On Thursday, it disqualified him from taking part in the general election
on similar grounds.
   rh/g
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