Senegal opposition gathers for anti-Wade rally

DAKAR (AFP) - Senegal's opposition gathered for a mass rally in Dakar Tuesday to protest againt President Abdoulaye Wade's bid for a third term in February polls, amid fears of unrest in the usually stable country.

Dozens of riot police watched from a distance as hundreds of protestors descended on the Place de l'Obelisque square in the working class suburb of Colobane for a rally the government only authorised at the last minute.

The west African nation's opposition launched a popular resistance campaign to force the 85-year-old Wade to step aside after the country's top legal body okayed his candidacy in what critics denounce as a "constitutional coup".

Amnesty International urged authorities "to refrain from using live bullets against peaceful protesters" after two people were shot dead and several others left with gunshot wounds during a protest Monday in the northern city of Podor.

A policeman was also killed on Friday when riots erupted after the constitutional council ruled Wade could seek another mandate despite a legal two-term cap and excluded music icon Youssou Ndour from the race.

Salvatore Sagues, the global rights body's West Africa researcher, said Monday's bloodshed was a "dramatic escalation" of violence in the country which is typically seen as a beacon of democracy among often troubled neighbours.

The European Union condemned the violence and called on "all parties to show restraint and opt for dialogue in the interest of peaceful, free and fair elections, which need to reflect the will of the Senegalese people".

Washington meanwhile urged the 85-year-old Wade, who has been in office since 2000, to allow power to pass "to the next generation".

"While we respect the process... our message to him remains the same: that the statesmanly-like thing to do would be to cede to the next generation," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told journalists.

But El Hadj Amadou Salla, minister of state and a senior Wade campaign official, said it was "too late" and that the president's candidacy has already been validated.

The opposition argues that the constitution allows a president to serve only two consecutive terms.

However term lengths were amended in 2008 and Wade says the law does not apply retroactively, which theoretically allows him to serve two seven-year terms from 2012.

Youssou Ndour, who was rejected as a candidate, has urged the world to protest at what he called a "constitutional coup d'etat".

Aside from Wade, the council approved 13 other candidates to run in the election including three former prime ministers and main opposition leader Ousmane Tanor Dieng.

Dakar was rocked by riots on Friday after the five-judge council first made its ruling, and a policeman was killed during running battles with youths who torched cars and shops, erected barricades and burned tyres.

On Monday a 17-year-old protester and 60-year-old female bystander were shot dead in Podor by paramilitary police who opened fire on a crowd demonstrating against the council decision, said Amnesty.

Senegal's presidential spokesman Serigne Mbacke Ndiaye appealed for peace.

"The real combat is the one we must lead to hold a transparent election... being a candidate means nothing," he told journalists.

"We deplore the will (of the opposition) to lead the country into chaos... we don't want Senegal to go up in flames."

Wade said in an interview with a local news website last Thursday that he needs three more years to complete his projects, fueling speculation that he wants to line up a successor.

He has long been accused of trying to position his 44-year-old son Karim Wade -- already a super-minister in his cabinet -- to fill his shoes.

When Wade was voted into office in 2000 after 25 years in opposition and the defeated incumbent bowed out gracefully, Senegal was hailed as a model for the strife-torn continent.

But a US diplomatic dispatch published by WikiLeaks in 2010 warned Senegal was "a weakening democracy," saying Wade was looking to "open a path to a dynastic presidential succession".