President Ravalomanana pledges to resist coup attempt

A spokesman for Madagascar President Marc Ravalomanana, who has fled the capital, told Reuters on Monday that the president refused to resign and was ready to die along with his guards. Meanwhile, soldiers stormed the presidential palace. President Marc Ravalomanana of Madagascar has vowed to fight to the death if rebel soldiers try to drive him from power in the Indian Ocean island. Weeks of political turmoil have left Ravalomanana’s grip on power looking increasingly tenuous, and on Monday soldiers threw their support behind the opposition leader and stormed a presidential palace in the heart of the capital. A spokesman for the president’s office said Ravalomanana would never resign and was ready to die along with the loyal guards defending his grand residence outside the city centre. “The president’s powers are now limited, obviously. This is becoming a military coup,” said spokesman Andry Ralijaona. “The president plans to stay in Madagascar. He said this to the presidential guard, who told him he should be placed elsewhere, and he replied ‘I will die with you if I have to’.  That’s his stand,” Ralijaona told Reuters late on Monday. Opposition leader Andry Rajoelina has been leading public protests against Ravalomanana’s rule since the start of the year and said on Monday he was impatient to take office. Rajoelina, 34, a former disc jockey who was sacked as Antananarivo’s mayor last month, accuses the president of running the country like a private company and has tapped into widespread public discontent with high levels of poverty.