Dozens Arrested at Niger Demo after Deadly Cartoons Riots
Police in Niger on Sunday fired tear gas and arrested dozens at a banned opposition protest, a day after deadly riots over a depiction of the Prophet Mohammed in French weekly Charlie Hebdo.
Around 300 demonstrators gathered in the center of the capital Niamey for a long-planned march on parliament, defying a ban on demonstrations announced on Saturday.
The protesters responded to the tear gas by throwing stones at the police and burning tires but later dispersed peacefully, an Agence France Presse correspondent reported.
Some 90 protesters were arrested but there were no injuries, Hamidou Garba, governor of the Niamey region, said on state TV channel Tele Sahel.
The opposition alliance behind the rally had said Saturday it would press ahead with the march against "the crushing of opposition parties" and "bad governance", despite the west African country being on edge after two days of rioting.
Ten people were killed in violent demonstrations over the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo -- the Paris-based satirical weekly where 12 people were shot dead on January 7 by Islamist radicals out to avenge previous publications of Mohammed cartoons.
On Saturday, five people were killed in Niamey after protesters demonstrating against the cover of the magazine's January 14 "survivors issue" went on the rampage, setting fire to at least eight churches.
Bars, hotels and various businesses owned by non-Muslims or with connections to France were also targeted.
On Friday, five people were killed and 45 injured in similar protests in Niger's second city of Zinder.
President Mahamadou Issoufou appealed for calm on Saturday, saying "those who loot these places of worship, who desecrate them and kill their Christian compatriots... have understood nothing of Islam".
Former colonial power France, which has defended Charlie Hebdo's freedom of expression, also condemned the violence.
The riots had abated by Saturday evening, with police deployed to protect the main cathedral in Niamey and other religious sites.
Source: Agence France Presse
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