POLICE shot at and beat civilians in Zanzibar as tensions mounted amid calls for the total cancellation of widely condemned presidential and general elections. At least one riot policeman in Zanzibar town opened fire indiscriminately at a group of about 300 protesters who had been chanting “Bye, bye CCM,” meaning the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi, or Revolutionary Party. The Commonwealth Observer Group called the process a “shambles”, saying the elections had shown a “colossal contempt for ordinary Zanzibari people and their aspirations of democracy.” The group also called for the polls “to be held again, in their entirety,” as did the opposition Civic United Front (CUF). – AFP