Ex-Nigerian leader in Senegal to mediate
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo arrived in Senegal on Tuesday to try to mediate a solution to the country's political impasse less than a week before a contentious presidential election takes place.
In the hour before his arrival, police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators as they took to the streets and set fire to tires in a show of anger over the candidacy of the country's 85-year-old leader.
Despite President Abdoulaye Wade's age and the growing unrest, he has continued to say he will run for a third term in Sunday's election even though the constitution was revised to impose a two-term maximum.
Six people have been killed in clashes that have erupted regularly over the past three weeks since the country's highest court ruled that the elderly leader could stand for a third term.
Obasanjo is officially in Senegal as the head of a joint African Union and West African regional bloc election observation mission, but his experience in brokering disputes elsewhere in Africa is likely to play a prominent role.
He told reporters at the airport upon his arrival that although his primary reason for being in the country is to monitor the election, he will not hesitate to step up and take a proactive role in order "to prevent what is preventable."
"This country is a very beautiful country and nothing should be done to destroy it," he added.
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