Military backs opposition in Madagascar coup attempt

TANKS and troops took control of a presidential palace in the centre of Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo yesterday after the military joined opposition leader Andry Rajoelina in his power struggle with President Marc Ravalomanana.

The president was not in the building but was sheltering in another palace about 10km away. He had resisted growing pressure to resign over the crisis in the Indian Ocean island in which at least 135 people have been killed.

Gunfire and explosions rang out as tanks burst into the palace grounds but there was apparently little resistance, witnesses said.