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| Police hold Swazi poll protesters | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Police in Swaziland have detained a number of pro-democracy activists planning a border blockade ahead of parliamentary elections in the kingdom. | |
| Several union leaders were bundled into police vans at the main border crossing with South Africa, organisers of the planned blockade said. | |
| Political parties are banned in Swaziland, one of the world's last absolute monarchies. | |
| There have been recent protests calling for change and multi-party democracy. | |
| A government spokesman has said the planned blockade was unnecessary. | |
| But the secretary-general of the Swaziland Federation of Labour, Vincent Ncongwane, said protesters wanted to demonstrate that Friday's elections would not be inclusive. | But the secretary-general of the Swaziland Federation of Labour, Vincent Ncongwane, said protesters wanted to demonstrate that Friday's elections would not be inclusive. |
| "We still have in Swaziland this myth that you can have a democracy where there isn't the participation of other political parties," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme. | "We still have in Swaziland this myth that you can have a democracy where there isn't the participation of other political parties," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme. |
| Landlocked Swaziland is almost entirely surrounded by South Africa. | Landlocked Swaziland is almost entirely surrounded by South Africa. |