Togo's main opposition parties said on Tuesday they would not attend a meeting called by West Africa's regional bloc ahead of Sunday's presidential poll, insisting they want the election postponed. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has summoned the four presidential candidates to a meeting in Niger on Wednesday amid fears of an escalation of political violence following a weekend of street battles in the capital Lome. "The president wants to see them to tell them to assume their responsibilities and come to their senses," said a spokesman for Niger's Tandja Mamadou, current ECOWAS chairman. The summons to talks in Niger's capital Niamey came after seven people were reported killed in Lome on Saturday in clashes between rival supporters, some armed with machetes and nail-studded clubs. But Yawovi Agboyibo, a leader of the coalition grouping six opposition parties in the former French colony, said there could be no negotiations in Niger unless the vote was postponed. --MORE 2329 Local Time 2029 GMT
