Togo protesters clash with police
Reuters
2012-08-23
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(ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION)
Clashes between the Togolese police and opposition protesters asking for President Faure Gnassingbe to resign continued on Thursday (August 22) for a second day running in the capital Lome.
Police in Togo fired tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse thousands of opposition protesters, as tensions over upcoming legislative elections boiled over.
Youths burned tyres and threw rocks in clashes with security forces in the coastal city. The organisers, the opposition-led "Save Togo" campaign, said dozens of protesters were injured.
It was the latest wave of protests in a series of violent clashes since June in the West African state, a former French colony with a history of tough crackdowns on dissent.
The opposition says the country's constituency boundaries, which were redrawn in May, favour the ruling party and is challenging a move to increase the number of seats in parliament to 91 from 81.
Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe came to power in disputed and violent elections in 2005 after the death of his father, who had run the country for nearly four decades. He was re-elected to a second term in 2010 in a poll marred by opposition complaints of fraud and intimidation.
Clashes between the Togolese police and opposition protesters asking for President Faure Gnassingbe to resign continued on Thursday (August 22) for a second day running in the capital Lome.
Police in Togo fired tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse thousands of opposition protesters, as tensions over upcoming legislative elections boiled over.
Youths burned tyres and threw rocks in clashes with security forces in the coastal city. The organisers, the opposition-led "Save Togo" campaign, said dozens of protesters were injured.
It was the latest wave of protests in a series of violent clashes since June in the West African state, a former French colony with a history of tough crackdowns on dissent.
The opposition says the country's constituency boundaries, which were redrawn in May, favour the ruling party and is challenging a move to increase the number of seats in parliament to 91 from 81.
Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe came to power in disputed and violent elections in 2005 after the death of his father, who had run the country for nearly four decades. He was re-elected to a second term in 2010 in a poll marred by opposition complaints of fraud and intimidation.
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