In Swaziland, Heavy Crackdown Beats Back Egypt-Inspired Protests -- Christian Science MonitorThree days of protests took Swaziland – Africa's last absolute monarch – by surprise. Police and the Army fired tear gas and water cannons to control 1,000 protesting teachers and students.
Protests in the tiny mountain kingdom of Swaziland have taken a brief pause, but not before sending a warning sign to the country’s monarch, King Mswati III, that sustained civilian protests are not just a North African affair.
Protesters in the southern African nation are calling for the king – Africa’s last absolute monarch – to allow multiparty democracy and to reconsider salary cuts to civil servants. The king himself has not responded publicly, but a heavy crackdown by his Army and police – including preemptive arrests of labor leaders, journalists, and student activists, as well as the use of tear gas and water cannons on the streets – is a clear signal that the Swazi royal family is not ready to cede power yet.
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More News On The Unrest In Swaziland
Swaziland Labor Unions Call Off Protests for Fear of Demonstrators' Lives -- Bloomberg
Swaziland: Govt Cracks Down on Pro-Democracy Demonstrations -- allAfrica.com
Swaziland minister plays down uprising -- Times Live
Army cracks down on Swazi activists’ -- The Zimbabwean
Tunisia. Egypt. Yemen. Swaziland? -- William J. Dobson, Washington Post
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