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Uganda's opposition leader urges protests over detention

Published:Sunday | February 21, 2016 | 10:03 AM
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AP
Dejected opposition supporters who work as motorbike taxi drivers hold their heads in their hands shortly after the election result was announced, in downtown Kampala, Uganda, on the weekend.
AP
Opposition leader and presidential candidate Kizza Besigye speaks to the media while under continued house arrest, at his home in Kasangati, outside the capital Kampala.
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KAMPALA, (AP):

Uganda's main opposition leader yesterday urged his supporters to protest his continued detention at home in the aftermath of a disputed presidential election which was won by President Yoweri Museveni.

"The only way to get out of this is to use the popular numbers that we have to make sure that the gunmen do not do what they are doing," said Kizza Besigye, speaking to reporters at his house on the outskirts of the capital, Kampala.

Besigye is unable to leave his house, with the police saying he is under preventive arrest to stop him from leading protests against Museveni's win that could turn violent. Armed police stand guard outside his residence and have set up a barrier preventing most people from accessing Besigye.