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KIGALI, Aug 4 (AFP) - Two anti-government demonstrators were killed by police Tuesday in the Rwandan capital Kigali, and several others were seriously wounded, according to a well-informed source here.
A police officer who had opened fire on the protestors was then himself shot by a fellow officer, the source added.
The demonstrators killed were young militants from the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development -- the country's former sole legal party -- and the Coalition for Defence of the Republic, the source said.
The demonstration was organised by the coalition, which defends the interests of the majority Hutus, who make up 90 percent of the population.
The demonstrators blocked all routes to Kacyiru, the area of Kigali where the ministries are situated, and called for the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Dismas Nsengiyaremye.
A week ago, National Republican Movement militants had, for several hours, blocked routes to the south, northwest and west of Rwanda. They called both for the resignation of the government and the release of fellow-militants arrested for alleged acts of vandalism.
According to Rwandan radio, the Coalition protestors are calling for the release of about ten of their members arrested for allegedly taking part in political agitation.
According to the Coalition, Nsengiyaremye has betrayed the Hutus and the Rwandan military by agreeing to negotiate with the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front.
On Aug 1 the Rwandan army and the rebels began a ceasefire, but on Tuesday the Rwandan defence minister James Gasana said on national radio that the rebel group had broken the ceasefire "at least seven times."
mgu/ag/aln AFP AFP SEQN-0218
