(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Ambassador to Malawi, Virginia Palmer, was tear-gassed on Thursday as police also fired live ammunition during a clash with demonstrators in the capital, Lilongwe, according to a spokesman for the main opposition party.
Palmer, who was meeting with Lazarus Chakwera, president of the Malawi Congress Party, wasn't injured aside from the effect of the gas, Maurice Munthali said in a telephone interview. Chakwera was also affected, he said.
“We managed to whisk away our president and the U.S. ambassador in the commotion that ensued following the firing of the tear gas,” Munthali said. One man was hit by live ammunition and was receiving treatment at a hospital in Lilongwe, he said.
The demonstrators were protesting against what they describe as a fraudulent election which returned the Democratic Progressive Party's Peter Mutharika to power last month. The MCP is challenging the result in court.
To contact the reporter on this story: Frank Jomo in Blantyre at fjomo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dana El Baltaji at delbaltaji@bloomberg.net, Robert Brand, Andre Janse van Vuuren
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