UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Friday said that he was dismayed at the coup in Cote D' Ivoire, and condemned the use of force to topple the legal government.

Annan, in a statement issued in the United Nations late Friday through his spokesman, said that he "is dismayed at the reports from Abidjan of attempts at a coup d'etat in Cote D'Ivoire."

"He condemns the use of armed force to subvert the country's legal institutions and calls for an immediate return to the constitutional order in Cote D'Ivoire," the statement said.

"The Secretary-General reiterates that the use of violence to disrupt a country's political process is unacceptable at a time when there is a universal trend towards establishing or strengthening the democratic system in all countries," the statement said. "This should be realized by those leading the coup. "

President Henri Konan Bedie was overthrown and the government deposed by mutinous troops who took control of key areas of the city, reports from the capital Abidjan said.

General Robert Guei, former defense chief of staff, said parliament, the government, the Constitutional Council and the Supreme Court were dissolved.