Wade supporters attack rivals ahead of Senegal poll

By Pascal Fletcher

DAKAR (Reuters) - Followers of a Senegalese religious leader allied to President Abdoulaye Wade attacked supporters of a rival candidate late on Wednesday, injuring at least three people and raising tensions days ahead of elections.

Witnesses said the devotees of Cheikh Bethio Thioune, a "marabout" or spiritual leader of the powerful Islamic Mouride brotherhood, stoned and beat followers of former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck as they passed in a convoy of vehicles.

Seck, a popular premier until Wade sacked him in 2004, is one of 14 candidates challenging Wade in Sunday's presidential poll in the predominantly Muslim West African state.

Dozens of followers of Thioune, some carrying stones, clubs and portraits of their leader and chanting pro-Wade slogans, wrecked vehicles of Seck's electoral convoy in the Fenetre Mermoz neighborhood, rolling them over.

They pursued Seck's supporters and terrified passers-by into a nearby Lebanese-run restaurant. Seck himself had passed minutes before but was unharmed.

"They started beating everyone ... they broke plates and tables," restaurant manager Jamal Joer told Reuters.

At least three people were injured. "I was in Seck's caravan. They hit me with stones and sticks," Amsata Niang, 28, a computer programmer, said, blood running from his head.

Police did not intervene, even when rioters blocked a road with the wrecked vehicles outside the marabout's house nearby.

WADE LEADS RACE

Wade, an octogenarian and only Senegal's third president since independence from France in 1960, is widely expected to head the field in Sunday's first round vote as the flag-bearer of the ruling Senegalese Democratic Party.

A lawyer by profession, he was elected in 2000, ending 40 years of Socialist Party rule and pledging to end unemployment and improve living standards.

But many analysts believe Wade may not win the 50 percent of votes required for a first round victory on Sunday, and they predict the presidential contest could go to a second round.

They say the electoral coalition which brought Wade to power in 2000 has suffered splits and defections, although the president still has the support of the economically and socially influential Mouride brotherhood.

Wade's popularity has also been dented by political infighting, graft scandals and complaints by ordinary people that public services and living conditions have not improved.

His critics accuse him of failing to deliver on his promises and point to the drama of thousands of desperate young Senegalese migrants risking their lives to try to reach Europe in flimsy fishing boats over the last year.