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| - Senegal's government has asked parliament to lift the immunity of leading opposition MP Ousmane Sonko, who has been accused of rape, the justice ministry said on Tuesday. Sonko finished third in 2019 elections that saw President Macky Sall win a second term in office, and is considered a future presidential contender in the West African state. But controversy has dogged the 46-year-old since early this month, when Senegalese media reported that a beauty salon employee had filed rape charges against him. Sonko, head of the opposition Pastef party, denies the charges and accuses the president of conspiring against him. He tweeted on Sunday that he visited the salon for massages to relieve back pain, and that two other people were always present. On Monday, Sonko refused to attend a summons from Senegalese authorities, citing his parliamentary immunity. He said he would speak to investigators were his immunity lifted. On the same day dozens of Sonko's supporters gathered outside his home in Senegal's capital Dakar, where they clashed with police. On Tuesday, Senegal's Justice Minister Malick Sall filed a request with the national assembly's president to waive Sonko's immunity, according to a ministry official who requested anonymity. The assembly could eventually vote on the request pending several prior steps. The rape allegation against Sonko comes amid uncertainty over whether Sall, 59, will seek a third term. Presidents in the former French colony are limited to two consecutive terms, but Sall launched a constitutional review in 2016, raising suspicions he intends to run again. Other presidents in the region -- such as Guinea's Alpha Conde or Ivory Coast's Alassane Ouattara -- used constitutional changes to win third terms last year. lal/eml/mjs
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