The army says the curfew is needed to save lives but the opposition says the move is illegal A curfew is in place in Ivory Coast ahead of Sunday’s presidential run-off election, forecast as a close race between President Laurent Gbagbo and opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara.
At least three people were shot dead in Abidjan on Saturday in protests against the night-time curfew, which remains in effect until Wednesday.
The election is intended to reunite the country which split in two following a northern rebellion in 2002.
The military has appealed for calm.
“It is our duty to sound the alarm and put security measures in place to save lives,” said army chief Gen Philippe Mangou.
Yves Doumbia, a spokesman for the mayor in Abidjan’s Abobo neighbourhood, said the three people were killed when police opened fire on a crowd which had become unmanageable.
“The police used teargas and fired live rounds at a crowd, killing three and wounding seven,” he told the Reuters news agency.
Laurent Gbagbo (left)
Age: 65Southerner, ChristianFormer history teacher, now presidentTook 38% of the first-round vote
Alassane Ouattara (right)
Age: 68Northerner, MuslimEconomist and former prime ministerTook 32% of the first-round voteCountry profile: Ivory Coast
The curfew was announced after earlier clashes in and around Abidjan, the commercial capital, in which at least four people were killed and dozens injured.
But the opposition candidate, former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara, said the move was illegal and unconstitutional, arguing that a curfew should only come after the election if there was trouble.
No candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the first round four weeks ago, leaving the two frontrunners to go head to head.
The result is expected to be extremely close, says the BBC’s John James in Abidjan – testament to the fact these are the first open democratic elections the country has seen in 50 years since independence.
The two candidates left in the race represent the two sides of the north-south divide that exists religiously, culturally and administratively, our correspondent says, with the northern half still controlled in part by the soldiers who took part in the 2002 rebellion.
Ivorian army troops and UN peacekeepers have been deployed across the country, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, because of fears that the run-off will trigger violence.
The elections have been cancelled six times in the past five years.
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