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Cameroon Opposition Claims Assassination Attempt Against Leader

Moki Edwin Kindzeka

   YAOUNDE - Cameroon'smainoppositionpartysays the government is plotting
   to assassinate its leader,MauriceKamto. The Cameroon Resistance
   Movement reiterated its claim Monday, three days after the party says
   an armed man tried to shoot and killKamtoduring a visit to the city of
   Garoua. The government says there was no assassination attempt.

   In a statement Monday, the CRM partysaid it wants the world to
   knowthere are plans to eliminate their leader, MauriceKamto. In the
   release,Kamtocalls on Cameroonians to take note and insists that he was
   elected president of Cameroon in the October 2018pollsbut that
   long-serving President PaulBiya stole his victory.'¯

   On Friday,Kamto'¯visited Garoua, capitalof the North Region. He was
   riding in a car, with crowds of supporters lining both sides of the
   road, when his private security guards riding behind him dove toward
   someone following them on a motorcycle. The guards said the man was
   carrying a rifle to killKamto.

   The security guards took the armed man,later identified as a member of
   the Cameroon military,to the governor.The governor, who is, the
   highest-ranking official of the North Region,did not make a
   statement.'¯

   OnSaturday night, about 40'¯Kamto'¯supporters demonstrated at CRM
   headquarters in'¯Yaounde, calling on the government to explain why it
   sent an armed man after their leader.'¯'¯

   CRM Secretary-GeneralChristopher'¯Ndongsaysthe actions of
   themotorcyclistshowed thatKamto'¯is no longer safe.'¯

   "I confirm the assassination plot because we have seen that this
   particular person was a gendarmerie officer that attempted to kill
   Maurice'¯Kamto'¯in Garoua. He was arrested by the security forces
   [Kamtos' private security] that were around Maurice'¯Kamto'¯and carried
   to the governor's office," he said.'¯'¯

   LaterFriday,a crowd at a'¯Kamto'¯rallysubdueda man armed with the sort
   of gun used by the police and gendarmes.'¯'¯

   Government spokesperson Rene Emmanuel Sadi said the officer on the
   motorcycle wassimply gatheringintelligence andaccused
   theKamtosupportersof molesting him.

   Sadi says the officers did not try to kill'¯ Kamto, anddismissedthe
   CRM's statementsasabid to manipulatethe public andcause a riotat a
   timewhen the country needs peace.'¯'¯

   "Professor'¯Kamto'¯should realize that the claim is an illusion. There
   comes a time when a politician lay aside his political interest and
   takes the posture of a statesman in order to safeguard the best
   interest of the nation," he said.'¯'¯

   Kamto'¯recently returned to Cameroon after holding rallies in Paris and
   Washington. In those events, he thankedCamerooniansliving abroadfor
   standing by him through his detention from February to October of last
   year.'¯'¯

   He was arrested in February 2019 for contesting the results of the
   October 2018 presidential election. He was released on October 5, 201,9
   when Biya ordered an end to court proceedings against'¯Kamto'¯and
   hundreds of his supporters.'¯

   '¯

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