Niger protest for president to quit

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Niger's capital, Niamey, calling for the resignation of President Mamadou Tandja. Brandishing placards such as "Tandja must go" and "Down with the Destroyer of democracy,", demonstrators on Sunday called for former prime minister and opposition figure Hama Amandou to take the president's place. The opposition disputes an August 4 referendum that allowed Tandja to stay in power until 2012, after he was supposed to step down in December after two five-year terms in a row. "It is up to us to end this autocratic rule," Muhammad Bazoum, a leader of the opposition Coordination of Democratic Forces for the Republic (CFDR), told the rally