Cameroon opposition leader flees to Gambia for 'safety' after vote

Cameroon's opposition figure Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who contests the outcome of his country's October election that returned Paul Biya to power amid violent protests, has fled to The Gambia, the Gambian government said Sunday.

The west African country said he had been allowed to enter the country on November 7 "on humanitarian grounds" and "for the purpose of ensuring his safety while discussions continue to pursue a peaceful and diplomatic resolution to the post-electoral tensions in Cameroon".

Biya, who has been president of Cameroon for 43 years, was sworn in this month for an eighth term after an election that sparked mass protests and subsequent repression in which several demonstrators died.

The 92-year-old Biya, the world's oldest head of state, won the vote with 53.7 percent of the vote, according to official results, against 35.2 percent for Tchiroma, a former government minister.

But Tchiroma has claimed he is the election's real winner, saying "there are now two presidents -- the president elected by the Cameroonian people (me) and the president appointed by the Constitutional Council (whom you know)".

Tchiroma has repeatedly urged supporters to protest against the official election outcome.

After several people are reported to have died when security forces quashed opposition rallies just before and after Biya's win, Tchiroma has urged supporters to stage "dead city" operations, closing shops and halting other public activities.

The government said it plans to initiate legal proceedings against him for his "repeated calls for insurrection."

Biya is only the second person to lead Cameroon since independence from France in 1960.

He has ruled with an iron fist, repressing all political and armed opposition.