20120129
AFP
Senegal's opposition called Saturday for popular resistance against President Abdoulaye Wade as the capital recovered from riots that erupted after the country's top court said he could run for a third term.

Local rights bodies and the international community called for calm as the opposition vowed to march on the presidential palace in downtown Dakar "and remove Wade who is squatting there."

Police arrested Alioune Tine, a senior member of Senegal's June 23 Movement (M23) opposition movement along with dozens of others in the wake of the riots in which a policeman was killed. Amath Dansoko, another M23 leader, called for his "immediate liberation."

Seven presidential candidates meanwhile filed challenges to Wade's bid, their lawyer said.

Violence erupted late Friday after the west African nation's Constitutional Council gave Wade, 85, the green light to run in February 26 polls, infuriating opponents who accuse him of fiddling with the constitution.

Riot police cordoned off streets around the presidency on Saturday after a night of what local newspapers dubbed "fire and blood" when a mass rally ignited with anger after the announcement.

The streets in flashpoint suburbs were littered with debris after rioters fought running battles with police, overturning and torching cars, setting alight tyres and shops along the city's main arteries.

Macky Sall, a former prime minister under Wade who is also running in the election, blamed the president for the violence.

"These deplorable events were a result of the fact that Abdoulaye Wade decided to confiscate the will of the Senegalese people through this electoral coup which is under way," Sall said.

"We are planning to meet to face this oppression through resistance and have called all Senegalese to stand ready to face it, and make every effort to ensure that Wade retracts his candidacy because there is no chance he will take part in the election."

Sall called for "everything at once: marches, sit-ins, resistance ... no violence."

Interior Minister Ousmane Ngom said in a statement that police were investigating the death of policeman Fode Ndiaye, who was "hit on the head by a brick."

Police had "intervened to re-establish order" after being attacked by projectile-throwing protesters, he said.

Washington expressed alarm at the latest developments.

The court ruling had "the potential to jeopardise a lot of the achievements" in a nation known for its vibrant democracy, said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

Washington wanted him to step down to pave a way "for a new generation of African leaders and solidifying his own stature as a democrat in this way," she said during a press briefing on Friday.

The five-judge council unveiled a list of 14 contenders but rejected the candidacy of music icon Youssou Ndour who filed an appeal against the decision on Saturday.

Seven candidates on Saturday filed to challenge Wade's bid, their lawyer Moussa Bocar Thiam told AFP Saturday.

Their appeals included a "judicial arguments as well as a recording in which Abdoulaye Wade says he cannot seek another term in office" after finishing his two terms, he added.

But as Wade's rivals challenged his status, he in turn questioned the candidacies of two former prime ministers and a former foreign minister.

They needed to prove their financial affairs were in order, he said, the national news agency APS reported.

When Wade was elected in 2000 for a seven-year mandate there was no term-limit in the constitution.

In 2001 he revised the laws instituting the two-term limit and reducing the mandate to five years. He was re-elected on this basis in 2007.

Then he again revised the text in 2008, reverting to a seven-year mandate, renewable once.

Wade argues that the 2008 law does not apply retroactively and that he is thus entitled to two fresh terms from 2012.

A joint declaration by Senegalese rights bodies and Amnesty International expressed their "deep concern and fear over the current tension."

The statement called for calm and political dialogue "to allow a return to serenity and free, fair and peaceful elections."