Deaths mar Madagascar protest

The political dispute has been largely peaceful

At least two supporters of Madagascar's self-declared President Marc Ravalomanana have died in clashes with security forces, reports the French news agency, AFP.

The violence broke out in the town of Fianarantsoa, 600km south of the capital, Antananarivo, following a pro-Ravalomanana rally.

Mr Ravalomanana claims to have won last December's presidential elections, while the official results say neither he nor the incumbent, Didier Ratsiraka, received the 50% needed to win outright.

Madagascar has been split down the middle, with two presidents, two governments, and two capitals, but the political dispute has been largely peaceful.

In Antananarivo, parliament met for the first time since the disputed elections but only MPs loyal to Mr Ravalomanana obeyed his summons to attend.

Petrol bombs

Unnamed nurses have told journalists that at least 40 other people were injured in the fighting in Fianarantsoa, Madagascar's third-largest town.

The trouble started when police, para-military gendarmes and soldiers broke up a rally of several thousand Ravalomanana supporters, says AFP.

There have been isolated outbreaks of violence

They responded by throwing petrol bombs at the residence of the Fianarantsoa governor.

He is loyal to Mr Ratsiraka and is one of the men who called for the creation of a rival capital to Antananarivo - the eastern port city of Tamatave.

The BBC's Johnny Donovan, in Antananarivo, says there has been heavy pressure on Mr Ratsiraka's supporters not to attend the parliamentary session.

According to some reports, Mr Ratsiraka warned MPs belonging to his Arema party that booby traps were hidden inside the parliamentary building.

Truth and justice

The man appointed by Mr Ravalomanana as Prime Minister, Jacques Sylla, addressed the assembly.

Outlining his programme, Mr Sylla said the country would be guided by a vision of society based on truth and justice.

Our correspondent says Mr Sylla's speech was short on specifics, and that the parliamentary debate will remain a symbolic exercise as long as most MPs stay away.

Sylla was short on specific policies

Mr Ravalomanana's strategy may be to try to get the National Assembly to dissolve itself and call fresh parliamentary elections.

Mr Ravalomanana, who is the mayor of Antananarivo, controls the capital. Last month he appointed a cabinet and his supporters took over ministries and other administrative buildings in the city.

The city has been starved of fuel because Mr Ratsiraka's supporters have blocked the main road leading to the country's ports.

Madagascar's army remains divided between the two rival presidents.

France, Madagascar's former colonial power, has urged both sides to reach agreement, and called for the roadblocks to be lifted.