Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Antananarivo (Agenzia Fides) – "There are several injured, but the news is still fragmented," Fides has learned from an editor of Radio Don Bosco from Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar where today, May 20, gunfire erupted in front of Fort Duchesnetra, headquarters of the “Force d'Intervention” Police (FIGN), a special police corps.
"The shooting started this morning around 9:30 am local time, when a group of soldiers visited the barracks of the special corps, to remove the barricades that the rebel police had erected around their base several days ago. The decision to remove the barricades was made yesterday at a meeting attended by military leaders, the special police corps, and the regular police," says the source of Fides.
"The FIGN have two claims. First, they want to know what happened to a large sum of money that former President Marc Ravalomanana had assigned to them during the political crisis of March 2009, which ended with his resignation. It is unclear as to whom the former Head of State transferred this amount (something like two billion of the local currency) or what has happened to it. The FIGN accuse military leaders of embezzling the money. Secondly, the men of the special police unit say they seek to defend the constitutional order, a formulation reminiscent of the claims of Ravalomanana, who claims to be still the legitimate president as he resigned under force," states our source.
"The rebel policemen, according to some sources, are a group of only twenty who are backed by some civilian demonstrators who were mobilized by a radio station belonging to a Lutheran movement that supposedly has close ties to former President Ravalomanana," said Fides sources. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 05/20/2010)
