Madagascar Army Issues Ultimatum

[XXPANTHAXX]

Tuesday, March 10, 2009
20:14 Mecca time, 17:14 GMT

Madagascar army issues ultimatum

At least 100 people have been killed in street protests
since the crisis began in January

Madagascar's army has called on the country's feuding political leaders
to resolve their disputes within 72 hours, or face intervention from the
military.

Edmond Rasolomahandry, the army's chief of staff, on Tuesday urged
political groups and leaders across Madagascan society, as well as
foreign envoys, to work for a solution to Madagascar's three-month long
political crisis.

"We implore all political players, civil society organisations and other
parties to reunite immediately and to find a solution," he said.

"If no solution is found within this time, we, the armed forces, will
fulfil our responsibilities in the greater interests of the nation,"
said the army chief, without elaborating.

More than 100 people have been killed, the majority at the hands of the
security forces, in a wave of opposition protests against the rule of
Marc Ravalomanana, Madagascar's president, since the start of the year.

Military concerns

Army officers have expressed increasing unhappiness with the
government's use of troops to suppress the protests, led by Andry
Rajoelina, the opposition leader who has accused Ravalomanana of running
a dictatorship while his people starve.

The army has already compelled Mamy Ranaivoniarivo, the defence
minister, to resign, accusing him of "violence against the population"
after he ordered soldiers to put down anti-government protests.

Soldiers at Camp Capsat, an army base located on the outskirts of
Antananarivo, the Madagascan capital, have now refused to suppress
anti-government protests.

Rasolofomahandry has vowed the army will "not take sides".

Mistakes admitted

Meanwhile, the president admitted on state television that he had "made
mistakes" in his handling of the country's political crisis.

"This political crisis has to stop. I am ready to listen. I am human and
I made mistakes," Ravalomanana said.

He called for a two-day national conference to try to bridge the divide
between his government and the opposition.

There were further protests on Tuesday, with hundreds of pro-government
protesters massing outside the French embassy, after France said it was
sheltering opposition leader Rajoelina.

UN protection

"He has been at the French residence since Friday night, following a
request from the international community and the UN mediator," a French
diplomat said, adding that the move had been agreed with Ravalomanana.

A diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Rajoelina
had left the embassy to hold meetings "in town", and that he was likely
to head to the US embassy next.

Rajoelina, whose criticism of the government's economic and social
policies has struck a chord with large portions of the population - more
than half of Madagascar's 20 million people survive on less than $1 a
day - is now under UN protection, saying he fears he will be arrested.

Drame Tiebile, a UN mediator who earlier confirmed that Rajoelina was
under UN protection, said that he had been assured by Ravalomanana that
the opposition leader would not be arrested.

In a further sign of the diplomatic fallout from the crisis, the US
state department said it had "authorised the departure of non-emergency
personnel and family members" from the US embassy in Antananarivo.