Senegal police fire tear gas at protesting students
27 Jan 2005 17:29:35 GMT

Source: Reuters

DAKAR, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Riot police fired tear gas into Senegal's main
university campus on Thursday during the latest clashes with
stone-throwing students in a country often seen as a model of democracy in
West Africa.

Broken paving stones and debris littered the main road outside Dakar's
university -- regarded as one of the best in the region -- as clouds of
tear gas wafted across the campus, not far from the home of President
Abdoulaye Wade.

In recent years, Senegal has been one of the most stable economies in the
turbulent region but unemployment is high and with half of the population
aged under 18, many feel their concerns are not addressed by politicians.

"If we don't take to the streets, they don't resolve our problems," said
Baba Gassama, a science faculty student who said his labs needed basic
equipment like microscopes. Many complain of problems like massively
overcrowded lecture halls.

A similar clash between the university students and police erupted earlier
this month.

Behind Gassama, a group of students were preparing Molotov cocktails with
old soda bottles while others tried to extinguish tear gas grenades that
landed in the dusty campus grounds, stamping on them or dousing them with
water. "We've been forced to behave in this way because it's the only way
we can make the authorities listen to us," said one, as others hung over
the balconies of university buildings, cheering each time the police were
pushed back.

The head of Dakar's riot police said the clashes had erupted because the
students had blocked a public road without permission to demonstrate.


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