Madagascar's president, under mounting pressure from troops who have occupied one of his palaces, has vowed to fight to the death.Marc Ravalomanana's spokesman, Andry Ralijaona, said the president had no intention of fleeing.
"The president plans to stay in Madagascar. He said this to the presidential guard, who told him he should be placed elsewhere, and he replied 'I will die with you if I have to'. That's his stand," Ralijaona said.
He accused the army of staging a coup and added that the president had sought military support from the UN and southern African countries.
Soldiers back by armoured vehicles had on Monday seized one of the president's palaces along with the central bank, after throwing their support behind Andry Rajoelina, the opposition leader locked in a power struggle with Ravalomanana.
Ravalomanana is holed up in another presidential palace, known as Iavoloha, a few kilometres from the city centre of the capital, Antananarivo.Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from Antananarivo, said the army had declared that it would take the second presidential palace during the night.
The president's guards had mined the area to keep the soldiers at bay and were expecting some kind of standoff, our correspondent said.
And it appeared that Ravalomanana was planning to remain at the palace, she added, while there were reports that Rajoelina was preparing to go into the seized presidential palace on Tuesday to take office and declare himself in charge.
Madagascar's army has traditionally remained neutral during political volatility, but on Monday, Colonel Andre Ndriarijaona, the head of the armed forces, said the military was 99 per cent behind Rajoelina."We are there for the Malagasy people. If Andry Rajoelina can resolve the problem, we are behind him," Ndriarijaona, who led a failed mutiny last week and replaced the previous army chief of staff, said. "I would say 99 per cent of the forces are behind him."
Courtesy: Al Jazeera
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