Wüstenschiff

Nach Burkina Faso und Burundi wird Kongo-Brazzaville offenbar zum nächsten Brennpunkt der panafrikanischen Proteste gegen ewig am Amt klebende Präsidenten. Gewalt wurde am Dienstag aus Brazzaville, Hauptstadt der Republik Kongo, sowie der Hafenstadt Pointe-Noire gemeldet. Oppositionelle hatten zu Protesten gegen ein von Präsident Denis Sassou-Nguesso für den kommenden Sonntag angesetztes Verfassungsreferendum aufgerufen, das dem Staatschef einen Verbleib im Amt nach den Wahlen 2016 ermöglichen soll.

An opposition leader in Congo-Brazzaville has called for a "peaceful uprising" ahead of Sunday's referendum on whether the president can run for office again, AFP news agency reports. The call comes after at least four people were killed in clashes between police and protesters. Pascal Tsaty Mabiala of the PanAfrican Union for Social Democracy wants to stop Sunday's vote going ahead. President Denis Sassou Nguesso has been in power since 1997.

Gunbattles rocked the capital of the Congo Republic on Monday, shattering a relative calm that had followed President Denis Sassou Nguesso's re-election in a disputed poll last month. Fighting erupted in the southern part of Brazzaville, with heavy fire in opposition bastions between troops and unidentified assailants sending thousands of residents fleeing, AFP news agency reported [...] According to several witnesses, the crackle of automatic gunfire began after 2:00am local time (0100 GMT) in Makelekele and Mayana districts, and continued without stop until dawn [...] Following the violence, hundreds of police and troops, some in armoured vehicles, fanned out across the city's southern areas and threw up roadblocks on the main road between the south and the city centre.