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Las Vegas SUN

September 27, 2005

# Togo Vows to Prevent Political Violence

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOME, Togo (AP) - Togo said security forces and opposition members were both to blame for political violence earlier this year, making the admission after U.N. report said the government was mostly responsible for mayhem that killed as many as 500 people.

The government said in a statement late Monday it would study the conclusions of the report released earlier that day by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"The security forces that were trying to maintain law and order and the opposition militants must share the blame and responsibility for the violence that took place," Togo's Minister for Information Kokou Tozoun told The Associated Press.

The government statement also said the U.N. report had not backed up its claims of up to 500 dead. The government has confirmed only 22 dead in violence linked to April presidential polls.

The U.N. rights agency said up to 500 people were killed and thousands injured in violence that followed the Feb. 5 death of longtime dictator Gnassingbe Eyadema, who died suddenly of a heart attack.

The military immediately named his son Faure Gnassingbe to replace him, contravening the constitution. Weeks later, Gnassingbe bowed to foreign and domestic pressure and stepped down, holding an April 24 ballot which he officially won.

Opposition militants claimed the poll was rigged and launched several days of riots in the capital, prompting a harsh crackdown by security forces.

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