Canadian missionary killed in attack on governor's office in Madagascar

FIANARANTSOA, Madagascar (CP) 12 April 2002- Forces loyal to Madagascar's main opposition traded fire with government loyalists Friday as they attempted to seize the governor's office in the country's second largest city.

A Canadian missionary was shot dead, while two soldiers and a child who was hit by a stray bullet were slightly injured, officials at Fianarantsoa's main hospital said on condition of anonymity.

The attack on the hilltop fortress-like building came after Gov. Emilson, who only uses one name, ignored an opposition deadline to leave. The assault began before dawn and residents reported hearing heavy gunfire.

Emilson's officials said they remained in command of the building, although electricity and telephone lines had been severed.

"We are well protected and well armed and have one month of supplies," Emilson's bodyguard, who declined to give his name, said in an interview from his mobile telephone inside the building.

The slain missionary, Joseph Roger Morin, was originally from Quebec and still has family in the province, Reynald Doiron, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said from Ottawa on Friday.

The Roman Catholic monk died instantly when he was hit by a bullet fired through a window of the Sacred Heart monastery in Fianarantsoa's Tsaramandroso district, said a fellow monk, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In Victoriaville, Que., another monk, Brother Laurent Lefebvre, said he didn't believe Morin was hit by accident.

"He was hit by five bullets," Lefebvre said in a telephone interview. "It's difficult to think that it was an accident. It was no accident."

He said an e-mail from Order officials in Madagascar reported that Morin was investigating a ruckus when he was killed.

"During the morning, there was gunfire and Roger opened his window to see what was happening and that's when he was hit."

Lefebvre said he served with Morin in the region for 44 years.

"It's very sad," he said. "I knew Roger for many years. It's certainly very sad for the congregation."

Morin, 72, had worked in Madagascar for more than 20 years, the last two of which were spent in Fianarantsoa.

Morin, who was widely respected, was praying with about 15 students early Friday morning when the firing started and they had decided to return to their rooms, his associate said. He was shot while walking down a corridor.

The monastery is near the governor's office and a few hundred metres from a base housing military police loyal to the government of President Didier Ratsiraka.

The military police have accused the monks of harbouring opposition militants, an accusation the monks deny.

The attack on the governor's residence is the latest effort by opposition leader Marc Ravalomanana to take control of the nation in the wake of disputed December presidential elections.

Hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters have already seized control of the capital, Antananarivo, and alternate ministers appointed by Ravalomanana were installed in government offices.

In response, Ratsiraka's government has ordered a blockade of the capital in a bid to cut off fuel supplies to the opposition.

Ravalomanana has named special 12-member delegations to run the country's six provinces, but five of the incumbent governors have refused to step down.

The mood in the Fianarantsoa was tense Friday morning and most businesses remained shut.

Ratsiraka, 67, who relocated his government to the eastern port city of Toamasina after the opposition seized the capital, has vowed not to lose control of Fianarantsoa.

Civil-rights groups say almost 30 people have been killed since the political standoff began after the government released results from the Dec. 16 election showing no one had won a clear majority and a runoff was needed.

Ravalomanana insisted the results were doctored and he had won more than half the vote. He refused to participate in a runoff.

Election observers, churches and civil-rights groups agree Ravalomanana won in the first round.

A poor Indian Ocean island nation of 16 million people, Madagascar lies about 400 kilometres off the coast of Mozambique.

Lefebvre, who described Morin as "our second martyr" because another monk died in a fire in the area in 1984, said there was no plan to recall the three Canadian monks there although they are free to return to Canada if they want. He said they are aware of the risks and no one has asked to come out.

"There's no question," he said of their dedication. "When you take on the life of a missionary, it's forever."