Antananarivo | Friday
AN elderly Canadian monk and at least five other people were killed on Friday in fighting in the town of Fianarantsoa as unrest flared in Madagascar’s bitter power struggle, the rival sides said.
The monk was shot when he leaned out of a window close to the gendarmerie base in the provincial capital, members of his Sacre Coeur community housed near the barracks told a local journalist.
Aides to the rival leaders, President Didier Ratsiraka and Antananarivo Mayor Marc Ravalomanana, each said several people were killed on the opposing side, but these claims could not be independently confirmed.
However, Friday’s clashes around the governor’s hillside palace in central Fianarantsoa were the first to pit military units loyal to either side against each other in a serious escalation of the conflict.
The Canadian victim was identified as Joseph Morin-Roger (76). He had been struck in the back by several bullets, a medical source said.
Earlier, Fianarantsoa hospital director Leon Rakoto said two soldiers and a child were slightly wounded after supporters of Ravalomanana launched a dawn attack in a bid to oust the local governor, Emilson.
”Four soldiers and gendarmes fleeing the governor’s premises were killed by our men and another was killed by armed civilians in the city centre,” Ravalomanana’s ”interior minister” Jean-Seth Rambeloalijaona said by telephone.
However Emilson, also reached by telephone, said: ”We suffered no losses, not even any wounded, but they have seven dead and about 20 injured on their side.”
An independent military source said the pro-Ratsiraka government was dug into his residence, backed by about well-armed 170 gendarmes and troops. Other security forces in the town have rallied to Ravalomanana.
After fighting throughout the morning, the town calmed down, residents said, but sporadic shooting could still be heard.
Fianarantsoa is a flashpoint in an increasingly violent showdown pitting backers of Ravalomanana, who says he defeated Ratsiraka outright in a December presidential election, against loyalists to the incumbent leader.
Ratsiraka supporters have for weeks starved the highland capital of fuel and other essential supplies by manning roadblocks and blowing up bridges on key routes from the coast.
A former Marxist who has ruled the island for all but three years since 1975, Ratsiraka has insisted on a second round of presidential elections on the basis of official results. These gave Ravalomanana a lead, but not an outright win.
Both sides see Fianarantsoa as key to the power struggle. For Ravalomanana, control of the province to the south of Antananarivo would re-open access to the coast and supplies. Ratsiraka has ordered that it ”must not fall”.
Ravalomanana, who declared himself head of state in February, has set up his government in the capital, while Ratisiraka has taken his to the eastern coastal port of Toamasina.
The Antananarivo mayor and businessman has strong popular support, but analysts increasingly fear a civil war because neither side will budge or respond to foreign pressure to negotiate.
Ravalomanana supporters practically took control of Fianarantsoa, the Indian Ocean nation’s third city, three weeks ago. They have the support of most members of the armed forces, paramilitary police and ordinary police.
Rambeloalijaona said Friday morning that more than 76 soldiers, police and recruits were holed up in the governor’s residence. The surrounding area was cordoned off.- Sapa-AFP