Troops Fire on Madagascar Rally
About 30 Die at Anti-Government Protest, Radio Reports Say
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Sunday, February 8, 2009
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar, Feb. 7 -- Soldiers opened fire on anti-government protesters Saturday near the presidential palace in Madagascar's capital, and radio stations reported that about 30 people were killed.
An Associated Press reporter witnessed the shootings in Antananarivo and saw protesters falling, but it was unclear whether they were wounded or dead.
The deaths were reported by both state-run and independent radio. There was no official confirmation, and officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
The protest was one in a series called by opposition leader Andry Rajoelina, whose challenge to the country's president sparked deadly violence last month. Unrest has been a hallmark of politics in Madagascar, an Indian Ocean island off Africa's southeast coast.
The army should "defend the people and stop these soldiers who are firing on people," Rajoelina declared Saturday on independent radio Viva.
The protest started at a central square where Rajoelina regularly addresses supporters. Thousands of demonstrators then headed toward the presidential palace.
Rajoelina, the former mayor of Antananarivo, had declared that the presidential palace belonged to the city, but left the square before the march started. He was ousted as mayor on Tuesday by an official appointed by the police minister.
As mayor, Rajoelina had used rallies and broadcast stations he owns to urge President Marc Ravalomanana to resign, offering himself as an alternative. Rajoelina accuses the president of misspending public money and threatening the nation's young democracy.
The president temporarily shut down the mayor's TV station in late January, sparking mass protests that turned into riots and looting sprees that left dozens of people dead.
The stakes in Madagascar, known for its eco-tourism and vanilla production, have risen since oil was discovered three years ago. But it remains one of Africa's poorest nations, with more than half the population living on less than $1 a day.
Rajoelina is a former professional DJ and an entrepreneur who heads two communications firms. He defeated Ravalomanana's party in municipal elections in December 2007. People call him TGV -- the name for both his party and France's high-speed trains -- because of his hard-charging personality.
But he will not be eligible to run for president in elections scheduled in 2011, because he will not yet be 40.
