Dakar, Senegal - Alioune Tine, coordinator of the opposition Movement of forces of the Nation of June 23 (M23), was released here by police after being arrested Saturday, according to his lawyer, Assane Dioma Ndiaye, who said Tine was detained without any charges.

Tine, who is also president of the African Assembly for the Defence of Human Rights (RADDHO), spent his first night in jail with 40 other protesters, Ndiaye said.

He was summoned by the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) on Saturday following the death of police officer Fode Ndiaye, killed on Friday during a demonstration aimed at forcing President Abdoulaye Wade to scrap plans for a third term.

Senegalese will go to the polls on 26 February.

Against the provisions of the Senegalese constitution which stipulates only two terms for the president, the Constitutional Council approved Wade's application to run for a third time.

Meanwhile, two people were killed by the police on Monday in Podor, northern Senegal, during clashes between security forces and demonstrators.

And in nearby St. Louis, a policeman was seriously injured in similar protests.

Pana 01/02/2012