Madagascar protests grow

Mr Ravalomanana's supporters say he won outright

By the BBC's Vohangy Rakotoarivelo in Antananarivo

Huge demonstrations in support of Madagascar opposition presidential candidate Marc Ravalomanana have entered their fourth day.

Mr Ravalomanana is a political newcomer

In the biggest show of support so far, about 100,000 people marched through the capital Antananarivo, where Mr Ravalomanana is mayor.

Mr Ravalomanana insists he won last month's presidential election outright and does not need to enter a second round of voting with President Didier Ratsiraka.

The mayor addressed the peaceful crowd, reading out a communique issued by foreign ambassadors, saying they were "very concerned" by the situation in the country.

Supporters waved placards demanding "Respect for our choice" and asking the constitutional court to issue the "Right results".

'Outright victory'

A spokesman for Mr Ravalomanana told the crowd that the campaign team's own results showed he had won the 16 December polls with just over 52%, enough for outright victory.

Admiral Ratsiraka has ruled for 23 years

The accredited Election Monitoring Consortium has given Mr Ravalomanana 50.5% based on returns from 75% of all polling stations.

But results from the Interior Ministry give Mr Ravalomanana 46% against 40% for Mr Ratsiraka, which would require a second round if confirmed by the constitutional court.

Mr Ravalomanana's supporters believe the results have been manipulated.

They want the court to release the votes from each polling station - an appeal which has been echoed by election observers.

Protesters have vowed to continue their struggle until President Ratsiraka is ousted from power.

Church involvement

Mr Ravalomanana has now called on the church to mediate.

The opposition says the incumbent enjoys a huge advantage

The crowd at Wednesday's demonstration included nuns and pastors, but Madagascar's cardinal said the clergy were not there to back any candidate, but to support what he called the "search for truth".

Some schools closed to allow their pupils to join in the protests, while a number of businesses, responding to pressure from their workers, released their staff.

The protest was peaceful, but on Monday, at least 20 people were injured when police fired tear gas and used batons against the crowds.

A child was also reported to have died after suffocating in the tear gas.

In 1991, street protests forced Mr Ratsiraka to introduce multi-party elections and he lost the first contest in 1993, before being re-elected three years later.