Ivory Coast's former First Lady Simone Gbagbo, 76, is the surprise inclusion in a list of five candidates who have been officially cleared to contest next month's presidential election.
She will run against President Alassane Ouattara, 83, who took power after she and her former husband, Laurent Gbagbo, were captured in a presidential bunker during the conflict that hit the country after the 2010 election.
But the ex-president has been barred from contesting the poll, along with ex-Prime Minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan and ex-Credit Suisse bank CEO Tidjane Thiam.
Their disqualification has raised concerns about the legitimacy of the 25 October vote and has sparked fears of instability.
Thiam, who was disqualified by the Constitutional Council due to his previous French citizenship, called the decision "an act of democratic vandalism" and accused the Ouattara administration of orchestrating a "sham election" to cling to power.
