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. AlertNet news is provided by いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい