The military junta in Ivory Coast have announced a state of emergency and curfew this weekend when the candidates approved to run in the Presidential election will be announced. The measure is aimed at maintaining public order ahead of the election to restore civilian rule. The move came as four people were killed and seven were wounded in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan when a bomb they were planning to plant exploded. According to state television the four people killed were Nigerian nationals. No one was immediately available for comment at the Nigerian embassy in Abidjan, where two senior members of Ivory Coast's military junta have taken refuge after being implicated in what junta leader General Robert Guei says was a plot to kill him. Generals Lassana Palenfo and Abdoulaye Coulibaly have been charged along with 15 other soldiers in connection with an attack on General Guei's home in September. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo earlier this week ruled out handing over the two generals until their safety was fully guaranteed. Communications Minister Henri Cesar Sama said the state of emergency would run from Friday morning to Monday morning, allowing the interior minister to control circulation, ban meetings and close venues as needed "to guarantee peace." A curfew would be in effect over the same period. The Supreme Court is due to rule by midnight on Saturday on which candidates can stand in a presidential election due on 22 October. There has been bitter debate about the eligibility of former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara. Junta leader General Robert Guei, who is also an election candidate, came to power after a coup on 24 December last year. It was the first coup in the history of the 40-year-old nation. It, and two military uprisings since then, have shaken the country's standing as a valued centre of stability in troubled West Africa. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------