Madagascar Police Tear Gas Demo for Arrested ex-President

Madagascar police Saturday used tear gas to break up a rally by supporters of ex-president Marc Ravalomanana, who was placed under house arrest after returning from exile in South Africa.

Up to 300 people turned up for the banned protest in the capital Antananarivo, throwing stones at police cars and setting fire to cardboard boxes.

One man had two fingers crushed while trying to move a huge stone to block a road. He was arrested by the police and taken to hospital. 

The police arrested two others, including a politician who addressed the gathering.

Ravalomanana is effectively being held under house arrest in Antsiranana (Diego Suarez) in the north of the Indian Ocean island.

The former president, who was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment with hard labor, slipped back into Madagascar on Monday, five years after a military coup and two months of violent protests forced him to flee first to Swaziland and then to South Africa.

On his return he was promptly arrested by a phalanx of heavily armed special forces, but not before telling supporters that he still held "lots of power" and that his presidential successor is "not the people's choice."

Ravalomanana's ouster, exile and fierce personal rivalry with his immediate successor Andry Rajoelina polarized the island nation, which is highly dependent on coffee, vanilla and other agricultural products.