Party official says Senegal won't let ex-president's plane land, thwarting homecoming

Published January 08, 2015

An opposition party official says Senegalese authorities are refusing landing rights in Dakar to a plane carrying the former president in what was supposed to be his triumphant homecoming after two years abroad.

Senegal, a rare example of democratic rule in Africa, was disrupted during the 2012 elections, when street protests paralyzed the capital. Demonstrators called for then-President Abdoulaye Wade not seek a third term. When Wade lost, he withdrew abroad.

But Wade remains popular with many and as discontent with his successor is growing, he planned to return Wednesday.

Oumar Sarr, an official with Wade's party, says the former leader's private plane is now stuck in Morocco because it can't get authorization to land. But Pape Mael Diop of the airport authority says it never received a landing request.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/world/party-official-says-senegal-wont-let-ex-presidents-plane-land-thwarting-homecoming