Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is urging peaceful elections as candidates begin campaigning to replace her.

Among those running are her vice president and two men she faced during the West African country's last vote in 2011.

In a radio broadcast late Monday, the 78-year-old Sirleaf urged political leaders to put Liberia first and control the emotions of their supporters ahead of the Oct. 10 polls.

These are the country's third presidential and general elections following the end of a 14-year civil war that devastated the nation and killed over a quarter of a million people.

Anxiety is high over who will succeed Sirleaf, a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner who led the country through the deadly Ebola epidemic that killed more than 4,800 people.