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Togo's Capital Busy, Opposition Suburb Tense
Mon Feb 14, 2005 5:09 AM ET
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LOME, Togo (Reuters) - Taxi mopeds buzzed around Togo's main market on Monday and traders set out stalls despite calls by opposition parties for a stay-at-home protest against the army's appointment of a new president. Small groups of soldiers with rifles and sticks walked up and down the market streets where women ambled by with baskets of vegetables on their heads. Some shops were open while others remained shuttered for now. "I'm afraid. I do not know what is going to happen this morning. The boss has come but he has not opened up yet," said Kokou, 52, who works at a shop selling fabric and shirts. In the opposition stronghold of Be, where at least three protesters were killed in clashes with the army on Saturday, the mood was tense. Groups of young men stood in clusters on the side of the street, gazing at the debris from the weekend riots. Large rocks and burned out cars littered the broad main avenue after Saturday's violence when some 2,000 people defied a ban on protests to demonstrate against the army's appointment of Faure Gnassingbe as president. Gnassingbe was hastily named leader after the death of his father and Africa's longest-serving president, Gnassingbe Eyadema, 10 days ago. The move flouted the constitution but it was quickly amended to clear Gnassingbe to rule until 2008. African leaders have demanded a return to the original constitution which said the head of the national assembly should take over on Eyadema's death, pending elections. They have threatened sanctions if Togo does not swiftly comply. Togo's Interior Ministry said on Monday measures had been put in place to allow people to circulate freely and it warned political parties not to defy a ban on demonstrations during two months of mourning for Eyadema. Groups of young men in Be scurried into side streets when a truckload of riot police kitted out in helmets, shields and tear gas grenade launchers stopped at a junction. The Education Ministry also warned teachers on Monday to attend class or risk punishment.
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
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