Equatorial Guinea President Launches Bid For Sixth Term

Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled the West African country for 43 years, launched his bid for a sixth term on Thursday. Mr Obiang, 80, also seized power in 1979 from President Francisco Macias Nguema, who was the leader at the independence and whose rule prompted a mass exodus

and thousands of deaths. The general elections are scheduled for 20 November. The president told a rally that his party had chosen him to run because I am the symbol of peace that reigns in Equatorial Guinea, he said. The country has 425,000 registered voters out of a population of around 1.4 million.