Senegal Man Sets Himself On Fire Near Presidential Palace

DAKAR, Senegal — A man who set himself on fire in front of the presidential palace in Senegal on Friday died from his wounds hours later in the latest self-immolation on the African continent.

Witnesses said the man stood on the sidewalk and doused himself with a flammable liquid, possibly paint thinner or gasoline. It was not immediately clear why he set himself alight, but Abdoulaye Loum, who was at a bus stop nearby when the incident occurred, said the man was holding a piece of paper in his hand which he held up as the flames swallowed him.

The man collapsed to the ground and was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. A statement read on state TV late Friday said he died at the capital's main hospital.

A private radio station said the man was a soldier and that he was wearing his military fatigues when he set himself on fire.

This self-immolation comes on the heels of similar protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Senegal's neighbor to the north, Mauritania.

Tunisia's mutiny that ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was touched off by a struggling 26-year-old university graduate who lit himself on fire after police confiscated his fruit and vegetable cart in December. Other self-immolations then quickly spread elsewhere in northern Africa and the Middle East.

Senegal is a moderate Muslim nation with one of the most established democracies in the region, but the country is facing its worst power outages in a decade and the cost of living has spiraled. There is growing discontent over octogenarian President Abdoulaye Wade's attempt to run for a third term, as well as the increasing influence of his son.

A U.S. diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks warned that father and son appeared to be "preparing the way for a presidential dynastic succession."

An hour after the incident, traffic had gone back to normal. Pieces of the man's burnt clothing lay in a charred circle.

Comments

[czs5056]

10:11 AM on 02/21/2011

I am so happy I am not a leader in Africa or the Middle East right now.

[thinkingwomanmillstone]

12:18 PM on 02/19/2011

To the jokers who think it's okay to make fun of the manner of this man's death. Please stop. The man was desperately seeking to change conditions in his homeland. I am sure that you would like people from other nations making fun of the suffering of victims of 9/11 or soldiers dying in the wars.

[1donewrong]

05:01 PM on 02/18/2011

I though fuel was being rationed there??

[schnauzergirl]

02:53 PM on 02/18/2011

I have always wondered why people think harming themselves gets the attention of leaders they think are against them. If you feel the leaders cares so little about the common man, how is helping that leader get rid of one more "of the people he hates" going to suddenly cause a change of heart?

[goddessNdiva]

03:40 PM on 02/18/2011

I don't think that when people burn themselves they are trying to get their "leader's" attention. Rather, they are trying to get attention for their plight. Like Afghanistan women who burn themselves because they are forced into abusive relationships are burning themselves NOT to get their husband's attention but rather to get some sort attention for their plight.

[themainpoint]

03:42 PM on 02/18/2011

good points.

[schnauzergirl]

04:07 PM on 02/18/2011

In the case of the Afghani women it seesm to be more a method of suicide than a cry for a cause, in that death is better tahn the abuse. But still if you burn yourself to death "your" plight no longer exists and I can't imagine that these people are doing it solely for others.

[sarapy]

02:12 PM on 02/18/2011

because of IMF (yes, the french DSK that's a woman chaser is still the director, when he's not womanizing) everything is being privatized. you want your children to have an education? you must pay in public school. the cost is $10/month per child up to eight and the price goes up to $25/month for high school. that is in a country where the average worker makes $55/month. health care is also privatized. medical consultations cost from $10 up + medication. most people eat one meal per day. that is usually rice. senegal imports rice from thailand to feed the population. senegal is not self sufficient for any staple food. prices rise. since people use mostly non-processed foods, they suffer the inflation directly (a "normal" loaf of bread has 7% wheat - so a rise in the price of wheat only affects 7% of the product's ingredients). repression is the way of these regimes. and "the rich R us" is their mantra. and the IMF is there to make sure that does not change. never. ever. "free market capitalism" is wonderful ;o)

[Peabodies]

05:23 PM on 02/19/2011

yes, sarapy. Thanks for your insight into the IMF's nefarious practices that are causing these hardships for the poor and middle class wherever their $10,000-per-hour bureaucrats swoop in to "help". They destroy!

Read The Schock Doctrine, by Naomi Klein, and John Perkins "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man". See also the movie "Inside Job".

[Anabelle Lee]

01:29 PM on 02/18/2011

The world financial oligarchy is behind most of the suffering of the majority of the world's people everywhere. It is no coincidence.
This is the result of globalism, too much concentration of power in too few.

[Peabodies]

05:23 PM on 02/19/2011

yes, Anabelle.To my mind, the world financial oligarchy include the World Bank and IMF, Central Banks, the Federal Reserve, the Davos crowd, and readers of "The Economist". I will repeat my response to sarapy which equally applies to your comments:

"Thanks for your insight into the IMF's nefarious practices that are causing these hardships for the poor and middle class wherever their $10,000-per-hour bureaucrats swoop in to "help". They destroy!

Read "The Shock Doctrine", by Naomi Klein, and John Perkins "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man"". See also the movie "Inside Job".

[Deparis]

11:10 AM on 02/18/2011

"Senegal is a moderate Muslim nation with one of the most established democracies in the region..."

The author clearly has no idea what he/she is talking about when asserting that Senegal is "one of the most established democracies in the region."

[KIVPossum]

11:38 AM on 02/18/2011

Fill me in. Was my understanding they have been reasonably successful with democracy

[Adewale Ajadi]

01:25 PM on 02/18/2011

Yes the author is very right about Senegal being a moderate Muslim countries and an established democracy. I spend time there and I have also experienced the democracy which is quite open and engaging but Wade seems to be a curious deviation so far. Most Sudanese are Sufi which is spiritual rather than religious. Grated my time is spent around Dakar what i see and experience is not at odds with the authors analysis.

[Deparis]

03:16 PM on 02/18/2011

Follow this link and read a few reports http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/senegal. I assume you do not read nor understand French, I could equally have provided you with information from other sources, including Senegalese.

[Jennifer Hagan]

07:32 PM on 02/18/2011

I really don't know much about it either. I thought they were one of the countries with more democracy. I also always thought of Senegal as a country still under the thumb of the French. I'm in France and when Nicolas Sarkozy visited Senegal and pretty much insulted the whole country and no one did anything about it, I thought wtf. It is like they won their independence only to have to depend on the relationship they had with the former colonizers.

[Deparis]

11:53 PM on 02/18/2011

Abdoulaye Wade, the President of Senegal, receives his diktat straight from "Les Champs Elysees" and "Le Quai d'Orsay." I'm sure you have probably heard a great deal about "La Françafrique" and its nefarious influence and consequences in African politics and affairs, Abdoulaye Wade is one of the main conduits of "La Françafrique's" political influence in Africa, and particular French Africa.

Senegal is a fledgling democracy, I will give you that, but the assertion that it is "one of the most established democracies in the region" is a real slap in the face to many opposition members and Senegalese whose hopes are now more like wishful thinking when Mr. Wade came to power in 2000 (with pressure from Paris forcing the former strong man, Abdou Diouf, to step down and be rewarded with the leadership of "La Francophonie", mind you) advocating democracy and liberalism.

[wwoody]

10:42 AM on 02/18/2011

Talking about being burning up mad.