Antananarivo - Mutinous soldiers from a key army barracks in Madagascar demanded that President Marc Ravalomanana recall the troops that have been deployed on the streets of the capital for weeks, local newspapers reported Tuesday.

The soldiers at the Capsat barracks in Antananarivo, which stores most of the army's weaponry, were addressing a press conference Monday, two days after they began a mutiny against embattled President Marc Ravalomanana.

The commander of the barracks, Colonel Noel Rakotonandrasana, said it was the army's task to "protect the population and their interests" and that the army should not be used by the president against the population.

The troops at Capsat accuse the president of trampling human rights by using excessive force against unarmed protestors during six weeks of opposition demonstrations aimed at toppling the president.

It is unclear how much support the mutineers at Capsat have nationwide.

The army has shot dead dozens of protestors and at least two innocent bystanders - a public toilet janitor and a peanut vendor - during clashes with the supporters of ex-Antananarivo mayor, Andry Rajoelina.

In recent days, Rajoelina has gone to ground for fear of arrest after the government banned opposition demonstrations.

A United Nations official mediating between the president and ex-mayor said Monday that Rajoelina had been given sanctuary in an embassy in the capital, without specifying which one.

The power struggle between Rajoelina and Ravalomanana has claimed over 100 lives on the impoverished tropical island off the south-east coast of Africa since late January.

Rajoelina accuses the president of seven years of authoritarianism and bad governance and is demanding that his government be replaced by an interim government, which he wants to lead.

Ravalomanana, a millionaire businessman, has rejected the calls to resign, on the basis that he was reelected in 2006 in elections considered generally free and fair. (dpa)