Pre-Election Liberia Protests Turn Violent

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Source: NY Times

Hundreds of protesters clashed with the police and United Nations peacekeepers here in the Liberian capital on Monday afternoon, leaving at least one person dead the day before a presidential runoff that the opposition has vowed to boycott.

Businesses shuttered and pedestrians fled the streets as United Nations armored vehicles roared down Tubman Boulevard, Monrovia’s main artery. A running battle developed outside the headquarters of the chief opposition party, pitting its supporters against peacekeepers and Liberian security forces, who fired tear gas and live rounds.

Claiming fraud in the first round of elections last month, the opposition candidate, Winston Tubman, has vowed not to take part in Tuesday’s runoff against President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in the midst of a heated re-election campaign.

“Mother Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, she’s responsible,” said George Weah, a former international soccer star who is the opposition’s vice-presidential candidate. “For shooting innocent Liberians, it’s wrong.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/world/africa/liberia-protests-turn-violent-on-eve-of-election.html?pagewanted=all