Lome - A man was shot dead by a soldier on Monday in Togo's capital after clashes with demonstrators in the opposition stronghold Be, where protests against the army's naming of a new president have been strongest.

"A soldier on his own was attacked by protesters who wanted to take away his gun. He fired to get away and a protester was hit," Interior Minister Francois Boko told Reuters. He said the protester had died.

A body lay on a piece of wasteground, watched over by riot police in green fatigues with helmets and shields. Spent teargas canisters lay on the ground and a crowd stood nearby watching.

"There was a clash between the people and the security forces," said a teacher, 31, who also declined to give his name.

"When they started throwing teargas I ran. They threw teargas and then they started shooting. We came back when it went quiet," said a student, 19, dressed in a white polo shirt, jeans and flip-flops, who declined to give his name.

The security forces prevented people from approaching the body and declined to comment on the incident.

Opposition leaders had earlier said between one and three people had been killed by security forces on Monday morning.

Published on the Web by IOL on 2005-02-14 16:26:09