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German cultural center in Togo torched
by Bryan Mealer

The Associated Press Translate This Article
30 April 2005

LOME, Togo (AP) - Black-clad, masked assailants torched a German cultural center Friday in Togo's latest post-election violence, but the declared winner of the contested presidential vote vowed he would not allow the country to slip into civil war.

The United Nations, concerned about a growing stream of refugees fleeing to neighboring countries to escape the turmoil in Togo, appealed to politicians to peacefully resolve their dispute.

Faure Gnassingbe, the son of the late dictator Gnassingbe Eyadema who was declared by election officials to be the winner of Sunday's presidential vote, denounced other attacks in recent days.

He assured the world that the nation of 5 million was not on the fast track to civil war—long the destructive route of its West African neighbors.

``I have confidence in the forces of order and security and, most of all, in the political maturity and good sense of the Togolese,'' Gnassingbe said in remarks published Friday.

``I do not think Togo will tip into civil war,'' he told French daily Le Monde. ``Not, at least, as long as I am at the head of this country.''

Opposition leaders in Togo insist that Gnassingbe's ruling-party rigged Sunday's elections and preordained a victory for Gnassingbe.

Togo tipped into crisis when Eyadema died of a heart attack on Feb. 5, ending a 38-year reign. Loyalists in the military named his son as new president, but Gnassingbe agreed to step down and run in elections under heavy pressure from African and other international leaders.

Tuesday's announcement of Gnassingbe's victory sparked two days of clashes that left at least 22 dead nationwide.

Even as violence largely subsided in the capital, Lome, assailants under the cover of darkness attacked a German institute promoting cross-cultural understanding—the latest post-election violence targeting foreigners.

The pre-dawn attack on the Goethe Institute in Lome was well-executed, said the center's Director Herwig Kempf. Nobody was seriously injured.

The gunmen forced their way inside the center's steel gates and beat two guards before sending them running away, Kempf said. The gunmen opened fire before setting fire to the first-floor library, which engulfed most of the building.

Through films, book-lending and language lessons, the Goethe Institute promoted cultural exchange between Togo and Germany. Togo, a former German colony, was partitioned by France and Britain after World War I.

Kempf said talk has swirled of an attack on a German institution ever since Togo's former Interior Minister Francois Boko fled inside the German Embassy on April 22. Boko was dismissed after calling for the weekend elections to be canceled for fear of bloodshed.

In Berlin, German officials summoned Togo's ambassador to the Foreign Ministry.

The ministry ``expressed the expectation of the German government that the government in Lome will do everything to track down the perpetrators of the attack and prevent further attacks,'' spokeswoman Antje Leendertse said.

The Economic Community of West African States denounced the attack Friday and said it was sending a delegation to Togo's capital on Saturday.

The delegation will investigate other attacks in Lome against African immigrants living there, the bloc said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Togo's current Interior Minister Foli Bazi Katari said eight migrant workers from Niger had been burned alive in their home the previous day by opposition supporters.

Gnassingbe denounced the killings of guest workers and told Le Monde the attacks had been organized by opposition-party cadres.

``People who engage in these types of almost barbarous acts were trained, manipulated by the opposition,'' Gnassingbe was quoted as saying.

This week, several Nigerian residents living in Lome's opposition neighborhoods also claimed to have been attacked by rioting youth, angered by an announcement by ECOWAS—based in Nigeria, which is its heavyweight member—that the elections were fair and transparent.

U.N. officials meanwhile said thousands of Togolese have fled to neighboring Benin and Ghana since strife broke out. Refugees are staying in relief camps, church grounds and with host families, Ron Redmond, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, told reporters in Geneva.

The agency ``is urging Togolese politicians to find a peaceful resolution to the current crisis, and to avoid triggering a humanitarian emergency,'' said Redmond. ``We are closely monitoring the situation.''

Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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