Senegal bars Reggae singer
14/12/2007 21:14  - (SA)  

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Dakar - Senegal has barred reggae star Tiken Jah Fakoly from entering the country after he criticised President Abdoulaye Wade, in a decision that Senegalese newspapers denounced on Friday as excessive.

The Ivorian reggae singer criticised Wade during a press conference and afterward at a concert on Wednesday, inviting the president to leave office for the good of his country.

Senegal's interior ministry said on Thursday evening that he was "persona non grata in Senegal" for his "insolent and discourteous" remarks and would be barred from entering the country.

Fakoly had been in Senegal for the international Hip-Hop Awards in Dakar.

Private Senegalese newspaper Sud Quotidien said the singer was a "victim of state xenophobia".

The Senegalese government faced what was seen as the country's most violent protests since the late 1980s last month.

Local media said the unrest was an expression of disillusionment by the majority of Senegalese hard pressed for the most basic needs, while the country invests in new highways and five-star hotels ahead of a major summit of Islamic nations it is set to host in March.

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