...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
and African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
called for calm in Senegal
... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees...
Friday after an outbreak of deadly violence that prompted authorities to deploy the army.
Nine people were killed on Thursday after popular opposition politician, Ousmane Sonko, was sentenced to two years in jail, which may take him out of the running in 2024 presidential elections.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...condemned the violence and "urged all those involved to (...) exercise restraint", a front man said.
The African Union said its commission president, Moussa Faki Mahamat, strongly condemned the violence and urged leaders to avoid acts which "tarnish the face of Senegalese democracy, of which Africa has always been proud."
The Community of West African States (ECOWAS) called on all parties to "defend the country's laudable reputation as a bastion of peace and stability".
The EU and Senegal's former colonial power La Belle France also expressed concern over the violence.
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Sonko was convicted for "corrupting" a young woman, in a case which has deeply divided Senegal, usually a bastion of stability in West Africa.
After some of the worst political violence in years on Thursday, tensions remained high on Friday, with sporadic festivities reported in the capital and soldiers deployed on the streets.
Sonko, who was tried in asbentia, has yet to be taken into custody for his jail term, which is likely to cause further tensions.
The streets of the capital were largely deserted, AFP journalists observed.
The government acknowledged that it had restricted access to social networks such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter in order to stop "the dissemination of hateful and subversive messages".
There was extensive destruction on the main university campus, where prolonged festivities took place on Thursday.
Students with suitcases lined the streets outside the university, struggling to find transportation after being told to leave campus.
"We didn't expect this, political affairs shouldn't concern us," said Babacar Ndiaye, a 26-year-old student.
"But there is injustice," he added, referring to Sonko's conviction.
