Madagascar strongman arrives for talks despite mutiny

Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina arrived on a remote Seychelles island Monday ahead of a meeting with the man he ousted in 2009, at crunch talks brokered by the regional bloc. Rajoelina arrived on Desroches Island for talks aimed at breaking the deadlock in efforts to end Madagascar's protracted political crisis. His rival Marc Ravalomanana is expected Tuesday, a Seychelles government source told AFP. And the 15-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), chaired by South Africa President Jacob Zuma, will bring the two men face-to-face on Wednesday. "President Zuma in his capacity as chair of the SADC ... will be attending the meeting in Seychelles on Wednesday," said Mac Maharaj, spokesman for the South African president Jacob Zuma. The rare meeting will come on the heels of what the army said was an attempted mutiny. The defence minister said three people, including the corporal who led the mutiny, were killed in a raid near the capital on Sunday. Despite the unrest, Rajoelina flew to the Seychelles' main island of Mahe and was immediately transferred to Desroches, a private island 230 kilometres (140 miles) to the south where the talks will be held, a Seychelles official said. Before leaving Madagascar, Rajoelina had confirmed earlier media reports that he would be meeting Ravalomanana. "I will speak sincerely, and I am ready to resolve the crisis and to face the Seychelles meeting, even if there has been disruptive behaviour to create problems within the country," Rajoelina said. "What we should know is that the divisions, disruptions and everything that is designed to overthrow the government, it's not the first time that this has happened." "What's sad is that security forces' lives were lost," he added. The Indian Ocean island of Madagascar has been mired in political crisis since Rajoelina ousted Ravalomanana in March 2009 with the army's support. Rajoelina, a former disc jockey who was only 34 when he seized power and had to change the constitution to become eligible for the top job in future polls, has failed to garner broad international backing. Rajoelina and Ravalomanana last year signed a "roadmap" toward elections, but the deal has yet to be fully implemented. The SADC regional bloc has imposed a July 31 deadline for the two rivals to settle their differences, so that a timetable for elections could be unveiled next week. The army regularly intervenes in Madagascar's politics. Defence Minister Andre Lucien Rakotoarimasy said Sunday that the mutineers had not made any clear demands. An opposition radio station, Free FM, on Sunday had broadcast remarks from one soldier declaring that the mutiny was a coup, announcing "the dissolution of the current state institutions and the installation of a military directorate." The communications ministry on Monday accused the station of complicity in a plot against the government, warning that Free FM could face criminal charges. One of the main obstacles to progress in solving Madagascar's political woes is to establish conditions for Ravalomanana's eventual return from his exile in South Africa -- one of the conditions of the roadmap. In 2010, Ravalomanana was sentenced in absentia to life in prison and hard labour for the murders of around 30 demonstrators, killed by his presidential guard in 2009 protests that led to his overthrow. Terms of a possible amnesty have disrupted negotiations all year. He has twice tried to return to Madagascar, but officials there have both times prevented him and his wife from entering the country. Ravalomanana was separately served with a summons last week over a $23 million lawsuit filed by victims of the February 2009 unrest, and is expected to appear in a South African court on August 1.