Looting engulfs Madagascar town

BBC 16.06.2002

A boy stands behind a security guard as a local crowd gathers to greet Madagascar President Marc Ravalomanana

By Johnny Donovan, BBC correspondent in Antanarivo

A looting spree in Madagascar's cosmopolitan north-western provincial capital of Mahanjanga is reported to have continued throughout the night and well into the morning after the violence broke out on Saturday.

It all started when angry locals attacked and burnt shops owned by the town's sizeable Indian community, many of whom are accused of having financed militia groups loyal to the former regime of President Didier Ratsiraka.

The town of Mahanjanga is one of two provincial capitals to have fallen to the advancing forces of newly proclaimed President Marc Ravalomanana.

He is engaged in a territorial dispute with his political rival Didier Ratsiraka who left the country suddenly last week for France.

'Unavoidable attacks'

The looting began after angry supporters of President Ravalomanana attacked shops and homes belonging to Mahanjanga's Indian community.

Residents described scenes of large crowds making off with televisions, hi-fis, and bags stuffed with jewels and money in a spree that has seen rows of shops emptied before being set on fire.

The targets - in what has been described by official forces as "unavoidable vengeance attacks" - are Mahanjanga's Indian community.

They are believed to have been involved in sponsoring pro-Ratsiraka militia groups and profiteering from the black market run by the town's former provincial governor.

Locals blame the lack of law enforcement on the streets following the hasty retreat of Mr Ratsiraka's provincial administration as Mr Ravalomanana's forces advanced towards the town.

Some have even accused the newly arrived army of assisting the looters to gain access to the shops sparking fears that the new government may have begun to settle old scores.