Malagasy police clash with northern protestors

ANTANANARIVO, May 1 (Reuters) Malagasy police fired teargas today at demonstrators in a northern town protesting a lack of electricity, four days after similar protests in the south-west led to 20 arrests.

Protestors said the police used live rounds in the centre of Antsiranana to disperse students and local residents, shooting one protestor in the thigh and injuring another one lightly.

Antsiranana's district chief, Horace Patrice, said he did not have a complete report of the situation, but added the roughly 200 unauthorised protestors had provoked the response.

''The police fired teargas. They probably also made use of their firearms to disperse the crowd,'' he said by phone.

''According to initial information, there are two casualties and some arrests,'' he said.

For the past two years Antsiranana has only had a fifth of the electricity it needs, he said.

Opposition senator Betiana Bruno said: ''The authorities should look for solutions instead of repressing legitimate claims''.

On Friday a comparable student protest over power shortages in the southwestern town of Toliara also degenerated into clashes with the police, who fired teargas and shots in the air.

Two opposition politicians from Toliara were subsequently arrested as part of an enquiry.

The two coastal towns voted heavily against proposed constitutional changes in a national referendum last month that expanded presidential powers.

Some 71.06 of voters in Antsiranana and 63.02 per cent in Toliara voted against the changes, compared with three quarters of the nation's voters who agreed.

REUTERS SY RK2245