Antananarivo, Madagascar - Regional African powers on Wednesday criticized the "undemocratic" actions of Madagascar's opposition as a protracted power struggle on the island drew to an end.
A senior military team on Tuesday transferred power to Madagascar opposition leader Andry Rajoelina that had been handed to it by President Marc Ravalomanana.
South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, who chairs the Southern African Development Community, stressed that the regional group would not tolerate undemocratic actions.
Johannesburg - The senior military team to whom Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana handed power on Tuesday has transferred that power to opposition leader Andry Rajoelina, who is calling himself president, reports said Tuesday.
The BBC and Malagasy news sites reported that Navy Vice-Admiral Hippolyte Ramaroson Rarison told a press conference that the military team was giving Rajoelina power to become president of a transitional authority.
Antananarivo - Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana on Tuesday said handing over power after seven years as leader of the Indian Ocean island had been "very hard" to do as he entrusted a team of senior military officers with the running of the country.
Speaking on national TVM television, the 59-year-old leader, who looked tired after a protracted power struggle with the opposition, said the decision to give up power had been difficult because he was the "legal president."
New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called on all parties in troubled Madagascar to behave responsibly and carry out a "smooth transition through democratic means."
"This peaceful path can only be the result of transitional arrangement arrived at by consensus and enjoying wide support," Ban said in a statement.
Johannesburg - Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana announced Tuesday he was transferring his powers to a military directorate after coming under immense pressure to resign as leader of the impoverished Indian Ocean island.
His move, which observers say does not constitute a resignation, marks a new twist in his months-long standoff with opposition leader Andry Rajoelina.
Following is a timeline of key events in that power struggle:
Antananarivo - A tense calm reigned in Madagascar's capital, Antananarivo, on Tuesday after mutinous troops cranked up the mounting pressure on President Marc Ravalomanana to step down by storming one of his palaces Monday evening.
Scores of troops supported by three tanks burst through the gates of the president's administrative palace in the centre of the capital after night fell Monday, reportedly firing grenades and shots as they advanced.
Antananarivo, Madagascar - Regional African powers on Wednesday criticized the "undemocratic" actions of Madagascar's opposition as a protracted power struggle on the island drew to an end.
Antananarivo - Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana on Tuesday said handing over power after seven years as leader of the Indian Ocean island had been "very hard" to do as he entrusted a team of senior military officers with the running of the country.
New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called on all parties in troubled Madagascar to behave responsibly and carry out a "smooth transition through democratic means."
Johannesburg - Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana announced Tuesday he was transferring his powers to a military directorate after coming under immense pressure to resign as leader of the impoverished Indian Ocean island.
Antananarivo - A tense calm reigned in Madagascar's capital, Antananarivo, on Tuesday after mutinous troops cranked up the mounting pressure on President Marc Ravalomanana to step down by storming one of his palaces Monday evening.
