ACCRA, Ghana - Ghana's president condemned Ivory Coast's coup attempt as a setback for all of West Africa, saying it undermined regional efforts to maintain stability and attract investment.

President John Kufuor, whose 2001 election ended a two-decade reign by coup-installed leader Jerry Rawlings, spoke after returning from a U.N. General Assembly session focusing in part on Africa development.

"It is most unfortunate and quite embarrassing that while we were urging the world to disregard negative reports which tagged us as undemocratic and immature, ... others were undermining our efforts," the Ghanaian president told reporters.

Ivory Coast's coup attempt Thursday, allegedly involving the military junta leader who took power in the 1999 coup that shattered Ivory Coast's decades of tranquility, ended with the ex-junta leader, a Cabinet minister, and scores of others dead.

Kufuor said Ghana would remain firmly behind the "legitimate" government of Ivory Coast.

"We will do whatever it is within our powers to support the tenets of democracy and the rule of law in the sister country," he said.