IN an attempt to put to rest a row last month over French comments on forthcoming elections, Ivory Coast’s army ruler, General Robert Guei, praised former colonial power France as the most loyal of friends. “Amongst our friends, right at the front, let us mention France, the most loyal of the loyal, which has not abandoned us during our turmoil,” Guei said in a televised address to the nation on the eve of Ivory Coast’s Independence Day holiday. French Cooperation Minister Charles Josselin provoked anger in Ivory Coast when he said recently that no candidate should be excluded “on artificial grounds” from running in September’s presidential election in the West African country. That was seen in Ivory Coast as veiled support for the candidacy of former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara, who some opponents say is a national of Burkina Faso and therefore ineligible under electoral rules just approved by referendum. Guei made an appeal for peace and tolerance in his address, saying companies that brought wealth to the country would not otherwise be prepared to invest. The military leader, who came to power in a coup in December 1999, has promised to restore civilian rule with a presidential election on September 17 and parliamentary elections on October 29.