MADAGASCAN PRESIDENT VOWS TO FIGHT
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
MADAGASCAR TROOP STAGE MUTINY
Soldiers in a large military camp in Madagascar have staged a mutiny, claiming they would no longer take orders from the government, reports say.
Access roads to a military camp in the Soanierana district outside of the capital Antananarivo were reportedly blocked by mutinous soldiers on Sunday.
"We no longer take orders from our hierarchy, we are following our hearts. We were trained to protect property and citizens, not to fire at people. We are with the people," one of them told the AFP news agency.
A government spokesperson told Al Jazeera that around 70 soldiers were involved in the mutiny and had taken some low-ranking officers hostage. She said the mutiny was a result of an internal dispute within the army.
The uprising comes amid political unrest in which at least 98 people have been killed.
Andry Rajoelina, the opposition leader, has called a series of anti-government demonstrations since January 26 and demanded that Marc Ravalomanana, the president, steps down.Rajoelina is in hiding after security forces attempted to arrest him and authorities intensified a crackdown on his movement.
"I am now hiding in a safe location where I cannot be attacked... Until the dust settles, I can no longer physically appear in front of my supporters," he told AFP without specifying whether he was still in the capital Antananarivo or even in the country.
The former mayor of Antananarivo has vowed to oust Ravalomanana, who he describes as a dictator starving his people.
The United Nations and African Union have dispatched envoys in a bid to defuse the political crisis in the east African island nation.
Courtesy: Al Jazeera
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