AlQa'dah 05, 1435, August 31, 2014, SPA -- Lesotho's Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing has taken charge of the government after the Prime Minister Thomas Thabane fled the country accusing the army of staging a coup, a minister said on Sunday. Thabane, who has been in a fractious coalition government with his political rival Metsing, left for neighbouring South Africa on Saturday after the army surrounded his residence and police stations in Lesotho's capital, Maseru. The army denied trying to force him out of power, saying it had moved against police officers suspected of planning to arm a political faction in the small southern African kingdom. "Constitutionally, in the absence of the prime minister, the deputy prime minister takes the reins," Minister of Communications, Science and Technology Selibe Mochoboroane told Reuters.
