Vote counting gets under way in Togo

[struggle4progress]

BRYAN MEALER
Associated Press

LOME, Togo - Security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades at crowds of angry opposition supporters in Togo's capital Monday, as vote counting got under way a day after a tense presidential election in the West African nation. <snip>

But with Togolese waiting for results, mobs of angry young men, armed with machetes, knives and clubs, set tires ablaze and erected cinderblock barricades in Lome's western neighborhood of Be Kopta on Monday. And Akitani, the main opposition candidate, was in hiding, fearing for his life, his spokesman Homawoo Atsu said. <snip>

On Sunday, protesters in Be, another part of town that is Lome's main opposition neighborhood, set a car ablaze after claiming the owner possessed a stolen ballot box. Opposition supporters claimed their names were excluded from some voter lists and accused government loyalists of stuffing the station's ballot box.

Opposition coalition spokesman Yawovi Agboyibo said masked men had also stormed several polling stations outside Lome, firing in the air and carting away ballot boxes. <snip>

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/11480421.htm