Togo lawmakers endorse late president's son as leader

LOME, Togo - Togo's parliament hastily amended the constitution Sunday to put a legal veneer on the military's appointment of 39-year-old Faure Gnassingbe to replace his deceased father as president, voiding the need for new elections until 2008.

The military, within hours of the announcement of Gnassingbe Eyadema's death on Saturday, named his son president, contravening the country's constitution that called for the speaker of parliament to succeed the head of state until elections could be held in 60 days.

The extraordinary session of the 81-member national assembly, dominated by Eyadema's ruling Togo People's Rally party, overwhelmingly approved Gnassingbe as speaker of parliament. It then passed a constitutional amendment allowing him to fulfill his father's term, which expires in 2008.

The African Union, trying to put decades of coups on the continent behind it, condemned the army appointment.

"The constitutional order must be re-established so that power can be held by the president of the national assembly," said Adam Thiam, spokesman for African Union chairman Alpha Oumar Konare. "This administration will not be recognized because it comes from a coup d'etat."

France, Togo's colonial ruler until 1960, put its troops in the region on alert in case they are needed to protect 2,500 citizens in the West African nation of 5.5 million.

French President Jacques Chirac "made it known that the time of military coups d'etat is finished in Africa," said his defense minister, Michele Alliot-Marie.

Gnassingbe Eyadema, who ruled for 38 years - longer than any other leader except Cuba's Fidel Castro, suffered a heart attack Saturday and reportedly died as he was being rushed to Europe for treatment. He was 69.

The army move and the parliament's endorsement reflected a desire by Eyadema's minority Kabye ethnic group to hold onto power. The Kabye dominate army ranks, as well as the ruling party.

Before being declared president Saturday, Gnassingbe was a communications minister and a member of parliament for Blitta, in central Togo. He was present during Sunday's session. Family names often are reversed in Africa.

Had the army not stepped in, the interim presidency would have legally gone to Fanbare Ouattara Natchaba, the speaker of parliament who was in Europe when Eyadema died.

Hurrying back to Africa, Natchaba was forced to return to Benin, instead of Togo, because authorities sealed his country's borders as a security measure. Officials said he would now become a regular parliament member.

The army on Saturday justified its endorsement of Eyadema's son as president, claiming that waiting until Natchaba returned would have risked instability.

Reached earlier by phone at a hotel in Benin's main city, Cotonou, Natchaba told The Associated Press on Sunday, "I don't wish to give any interviews."

Eyadema took power in 1967, four years after abetting one of sub-Saharan Africa's first postcolonial coups.

Along with leaders of Zimbabwe, Guinea and Cameroon, he was considered one of the last of Africa's "Big Men" - rulers holding power through patronage, the loyalty of their ethnic and regional groups, and military force.

On Sunday, the prime minister's office declared the start of an official two-month national mourning period and ordered flags to fly at half-staff.

The streets of the capital, Lome, were largely deserted, with markets closed and most people keeping indoors for fear of trouble. Traffic was sparse. No significant military presence was visible.

State television broadcast nonstop Christian hymns and prayers throughout the day, accompanied by an unchanging photograph of a blue-suited Eyadema, flanked by crosses.

Natchaba had been in Brussels meeting with European Union officials discussing democratic reforms in Togo, a communications ministry adviser said on condition of anonymity.

European Union Commissioner Louis Michel urged "strict respect of procedures under the constitution." Michel said appointment of Eyadema's son would have "consequences" in relations with the EU, which cut desperately needed aid to Eyadema's government in 1993 after allegations that security forces had fired upon democracy activists.

Nigeria's powerful President Olusegun Obasanjo, the head of the 53-nation African Union, said "unconstitutional transfer of power in Togo" will not be condoned.

"Democracy must be the principle in Africa and all African nations will have to subscribe to that," Obasanjo spokeswoman Remi Oyo said.

An emergency meeting of West African heads of state would be called soon to discuss the situation, officials said.

French troops in the region had been ordered on alert in case there is "a need to intervene to protect our compatriots," the defense minister said. "There is no particular threat, but we are vigilant."

French President Jacques Chirac also discussed Togo's situation with several African leaders, his office said without giving details.

A Togolese opposition leader who lives in Paris, Gilchrist Olympio, also denounced the appointment of Eyadema's son as "a military coup d'etat" and called for sanctions against him if he refuses to embrace democracy.

"The military have always ruled under Eyadema and they want to continue to rule," Olympio said in a telephone interview.

Eyadema, a former Togolese French Foreign Legion officer who favored sunglasses and snappy suits, had survived assassination attempts, international isolation over rights abuses and uprisings.

In his last inauguration after an internationally criticized 2003 election, witnesses said Eyadema rose from what was a reclining easy-chair set on a stage to take the oath of office.