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Solidarity march called off in Freetown

[Gambia] Deyda Hydara, editor of private Gambian newspaper The Point, was shot dead as he left his office in December 2004. Reporters sans frontières
Deyda Hydara,rédacteur en chef du journal The Point, assassiné à Banjul en décembre 2004
    DAKAR

    Meanwhile, the presidential spokesman, Septimus Kaikai, confirmed
    that the Sierra Leone government cancelled a solidarity march in Freetown that was to have coincided with Saturday's inauguration of Nigeria's new civilian president.

    "I believe that the proper papers were not applied for by the civil society movement responsible for organising the march and so it was unable to proceed," Kaikai told IRIN on Monday. He said a similar march held to celebrate the restoration of democracy in Nigeria went ahead in Bo, some 170 km southeast of Freetown.

    Reacting to a news report that the march had been disallowed because of fears by the security forces that rebels might use it to infiltrate the capital, Kaikai said that the rebels might possibly have tried to enter Freetown, but as far as he knew the cancellation was "due to the lack of appropriate papers".

    Rebel forces infiltrated and attacked the capital in January before being driven out by West African peacekeepers.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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