Azerbaijani Prosecutor General Zakir Garalov accused the opposition Monday of planning to stage a coup, saying any such attempt will be foiled.

"We have specific information that confirms certain radical opposition forces intend to stage a coup in the country," Garalov told a press conference, the Interfax news agency reported.

"Any radical opposition forces that decide to commit any unconstitutional acts will receive an adequate response," Garalov said.

The prosecutor general warned the opposition that "the Azerbaijani authorities are strong enough and any such unconstitutional attempts will be thwarted by legal means."

Tensions in the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation are running high ahead of the November parliamentary elections. Former president Ayaz Mutalibov and former parliamentary speaker Rasul Guliyev, both of whom are living abroad, have announced plans to run in the elections.

Mutalibov and Guliyev will be arrested if they return to Azerbaijan to take part in the upcoming parliamentary elections, Garalov said, adding they have been put on a wanted list.

Mutalibov, who took the helm of Azerbaijan after the country gained independence in the early 1990s, is accused of grave crimes that include losing Azerbaijani territories to Armenia in the armed conflict over the disputed, mostly ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Guliyev, who now heads the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, faces large-scale misappropriation charges.

Source: Xinhua