ANTANANARIVO - A shootout at a Madagascar military base killed one government soldier on Saturday after a general barred from running in a presidential election declared a new government, in an apparent failed coup bid.Just two weeks before the poll on the Indian Ocean island, General Andrianafidisoa issued leaflets announcing an interim regime led by a military board, the defence ministry said. ‘The army is taking power so that the country does not slide into civil war,’ the leaflet said, according to a version of events given by the ministry whose gist was confirmed by the general himself.
| Master of double-speak: his faction of the army is taking power to prevent a civil war that he's fomenting. |
After Friday’s leafleting, the general went to Ivato military base, on the outskirts of the capital, seeking support from other soldiers. He was attacked by another section of the military in the early hours of Saturday. ‘Mixed elements assaulted the aeronaval base where General Fidy and his men had based themselves,’ Defence Ministry spokesman Paul Andre said. ‘There was an exchange of fire between (government forces) and the men of General Andrianafidisoa at Ivato aeronaval base and one soldier was killed.’
| Which means that while the soldiers might be good at beating up the population, they haven't spent enough time at the rifle range. |
| Which coincide with his, wouldn't you know. |
Raonenantsoamampianina told Reuters early on Saturday afternoon that the situation was returning to normal. ‘We are working hard to straighten the matter out
Madagascar diverted flights away from Ivato international airport, including that of Ravalomanana who was returning from a European Union conference in Brussels. He flew in to an airport in the north of the island where he resumed election campaigning, in a sign authorities considered the declaration of a new government quashed.
Madagascans have been fearful the election might lead to a repeat -- or worse -- of a disputed result in December 2001 which led to an eight-month political crisis that brought the island of 19 million people to a standstill. In 2002, MadagascarÂ’s military split into two camps.
AndrianafidisoaÂ’s stand against the president this time was a change from 2002, when he led pro-Ravalomanana soldiers in an attack against forces from a southern town, Fianarantsoa, leading to several deaths.
The worldÂ’s fourth-largest island and its largest vanilla producer, Madagascar is one of the poorest countries on the globe despite its natural resources. GDP dropped almost 13 percent during the 2002 political crisis.
| Hard-working people, abundant resources and a shithole of a nation: round up the usual suspects to see why. |