Rally stopped

Malawi police cancelled a big opposition rally, to the fury of 20,000 multi-party advocates who had converged at a stadium in the wake of a referendum that backed multi-party democracy, AFP reports from Blantyre.

Supporters of the opposition United Democratic Front said four heavily armed policemen arrived at the stadium and told the UDF officials that the rally could not proceed since the police commissioner had not issued a permit and that people had to disperse.