/ 6 June 2001

20 INJURED IN POLITICAL CLASHES IN MALAWI

TWENTY people were injured in Malawi on Tuesday when supporters of President Bakili Muluzi’s ruling party clashed with opposition supporters in the capital Lilongwe, witnesses said. The witnesses said the United Democratic Front’s youth wing – the Young Democrats – were targetting supporters of National Democratic Alliance, led by Brown Mpinganjira, a former cabinet minister. Mpinganjira was sacked from the government and now heads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is trying to stop Muluzi from seeking a third term in 2004 after his legal two terms expire. The trouble on Tuesday began outside the parliament building when Young Democrats burned the car of an opposition member and beat up its occupants, one witness said.