Police fire tear gas on anti-Wade protests

AFP - Senegal riot police fired tear gas and sprayed protesters with water to break up a thousands-strong rally Tuesday in Dakar demanding that President Abdoulaye Wade drop plans to seek a third term.

Angry youths had taunted security forces shortly before the dispersion, throwing rocks at police who stood some 300 metres from the square where the demonstration was being held.

They burnt tyres and engaged in running battles with police in side streets after the square emptied out. An AFP journalist saw a woman with injuries to her leg.

The June 23 Movement of opposition parties and civil society had called the rally to demand that the octogenarian Wade renounce his candidacy in February elections.

A ruling by the constitutional council that Wade was legally allowed to run has sparked fury among opponents who accuse him of fiddling with the law. Three people have died in riots since Friday night.