Liberia election: deadly rioting on eve of run-off vote

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Rioting erupted in Monrovia on Monday during an opposition rally held on the eve of Liberia's presidential run-off election, which incumbent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is expected to win. 

BBC News reported that a young man was shot and killed during the protest. 

Agence France-Presse reported that Liberian police exchanged gunfire with members of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), and fired tear gas after stone-throwing broke out.

Thousands of CDC supporters had gathered outside their party headquarters in Monrovia, the capital, calling for voters to boycott Tuesday's run-off vote, the BBC said.

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Winston Tubman, who came second in the first round of the presidential election last month, has pulled out of the run-off vote, alleging widespread vote-rigging. He had called for a "peaceful protest" on Monday.

Sirleaf, 72, who is running for a second term, won the first round just days after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. But she failed to pass the 50 percent benchmark required for a  first-round victory.

Sirleaf was the first African woman to be democratically elected, defeating soccer star George Weah in 2005 elections. 

Tubman, a Harvard-educated lawyer, has slammed the Nobel committee for awarding Sirleaf the Nobel Peace Prize just days before the country headed to the polls, calling the move "provocative."

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