Protests intensify
February 20, 2012
Security forces and protesters clashed in the Senegalese capital Dakar on Sunday, a week ahead of a controversial presidential poll. The rioters cordoned off parts of the city and threw stones at police after five consecutive days of unrest.
Sporadic demonstrations and protests began late last month, when Senegal's constitutional court ruled that 85-year-old President Abdoulaye Wade could run for a third term in office in February 26 elections. Senegal's 2001 constitution states that a president can only serve two terms in office, but Wade argues that his first stint - from 2000 to 2007 - falls under the terms of the previous constitution, which imposed no such limits.
Former colonial power France and the United States have called on Wade to step aside and allow a new generation of Senegalese leaders to take charge.
Religious overtones
Sunday's protests focused around a major city-center Mosque in Dakar, with protesters saying the site had been attacked by security forces during a demonstration on Friday.
Senegal's Interior Minister Ousmane Ngom referred to Friday's incident as a "blunder," saying a police officer threw a tear gas grenade at a group of protesters outside the mosque, but that the gas spread and disrupted worshipers inside and outside the building.
"I would like to present, in my personal name and on behalf of the highest authorities of national police, our most sincere apologies to the caliph," Ngom said, referring to the Tidiane brotherhood - Senegal's largest Muslim group - that owns the mosque. "Religious worship should be separated from political action and I would like us, political actors, to distance our demonstrations from the mosques."
Youths and police clashed for several hours outside the mosque, which is situated close to the presidential palace in central Dakar, with smaller protests breaking out in the suburbs and outlying towns and villages.
On the campaign trail, Wade has promised universities, roads, airports and massive agricultural projects in a bid to woo just over 5 million registered voters. He faces opposition from 13 other candidates in the election, albeit without a clear front-runner among them, with a runoff vote to follow the February 26 poll if no candidate secures an outright majority.
msh/gsw (AFP, AP, Reuters)