A Swiss prosecutor has ordered the freezing of three bank accounts belonging to the former health minister of Ivory Coast, Kakou Guikahue.

The prosecutor said the move was part of an investigation into the disappearance of European Union aid to Ivory Coast while the former government of Henri Konan Bedie was in power.

President Bedie was ousted in a military coup last month.

In June, the Ivorian news magazine Le Jour reported that $33m had been misappropriated from aid money sent by the EU and intended for health care.

Officials had syphoned off money by making exaggerated expenses claims for items purchased for use by the health services, the magazine said.

The ministry had also failed to put contracts out to public tender as required by the EU, Le Jour reported.

Denial

Mr Guikahue at the time denied the accusations, which the magazine said were taken from a leaked EU investigation.

Switzerland has often been criticised as a money-laundering centre, though a law which came into effect last year obliges banks to report and freeze suspicious accounts.

Several former foreign rulers are currently under investigation - among them the late Nigerian military ruler Sani Abacha, and the late president of the former Zaire, Mobutu Sese Seko.

UN offers election help

The United Nations has meanwhile said it is ready to help Ivory Coast organise credible and transparent elections to transfer power to a civilian government.

The statement follows the announcement on Monday by the coup leader, General Robert Guei, that free elections would be held by the end of October.