Anger at Cameroon third term hint

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Opposition parties and non-governmental groups in Cameroon have criticised President Paul Biya's intention to amend the country's constitution.

In a new year message Mr Biya hinted he would change a clause that limits the head of state to two terms in office.

The amendment would open the way for him to run for president again in 2011, should he choose to.

President Biya said his government would respond to popular demands for a change to the constitution.

"Many calls in favour of a revision are reaching me from all our provinces - I am obviously not indifferent to them," the president said.

Opposition parties described such an initiative as an attempt of manipulating public opinion and a threat to the country's peace.

President Biya, who came to power in 1982, revised the constitution 12 years ago, extending the presidential term of office from five to seven years.

Mr Biya's Democratic Rally of the Cameroonian People (RDPC) won at least 152 of the 180 National Assembly seats in elections in July, in which opposition parties alleged "massive fraud".