ABIDJAN (Reuters) -Former Credit Suisse chief Tidjane Thiam and former President Laurent Gbagbo are barred from contesting next month’s presidential election in Ivory Coast, although Gbagbo’s ex-wife, Simone Gbagbo, will be able to run, an official said on Monday.

President Alassane Ouattara, 83, announced in July he would seek a fourth term in the world’s top cocoa-producing nation, and analysts expect him to win, given the weak field of challengers.

But tensions over candidates’ eligibility risk fuelling unrest in Francophone West Africa’s largest economy, which has a long history of election-related violence. Ouattara’s government has promised a peaceful vote.

Thiam, the designated candidate of the main opposition party PDCI, was widely expected to be excluded after a court ruled in

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