Clashes in Dakar

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)

STORY: Senegalese police sealed off a main square in the capital Dakar and fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators who gathered on Friday (February 17) in protest against incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade's bid to seek a third term in a Feb. 26 poll.

The police fought running battles with protesters who hurled stones, burned trash and set up barricades along avenues in the city center, forcing businesses to close for the afternoon.

Opposition leaders, along with civil society organization M-23 and youth rap group "Y'en a marre" - French slang for "enough is enough" - say Wade's bid breaches rules setting a two-term presidential limit.

They have threatened to make the country ungovernable if Wade refuses to step down.

African nation's top legal body. World leaders have called on all sides to show restraint, warning that the West African nation's democratic credentials are at stake.

The octogenarian Wade, who has also come under pressure from abroad to step down, has said that his first term should not be counted as limits were introduced in 2001, after he had already begun his time in power.

At least four people have been killed in street clashes since last month when Wade's candidacy was validated by the West Reuters reporters saw several wounded including a policewoman being taken away by ambulance.