State of emergency extended

The Govenment extended a state of emergency Thursday in the north, where feuding between two clans last week left a traditional ruler and 36 other people dead.

The brutal killing of Ya-Na Yakubu Andani, the paramount chief of Ghana's ethnic Dagbon people in the Yendi district, has outraged Ghana's other traditional rulers and led to the resignation of two high-ranking government officials.

Parliament met in special session Thursday to discuss the violence and announced afterward that the state of emergency imposed after the bloodshed would be extended another six weeks.

The fighting broke out between the Abudu and Andani clans, rivals for power within the Dagbon ethnic group since Ghana gained independence from Britain in 1957.

Abudus stormed the palace of Chief Andani on March 27 with bows and arrows, guns, and machetes. They beheaded him and set his palace ablaze.

Most of the 36 others who died were Andanis. Dozens more were wounded.

On Wednesday, Wayo Seini, a spokesman for the slain chief's family, called for an independent inquiry into the killings.

Seini also accused security forces of negligence for failing to avert the slaughter.

Last week, Interior Minister Malik al-Hassan Yakubu and a northern state governor resigned amid accusations that they had backed a plot against the chief.

Both men denied any involvement with the killings, but said they were stepping down to avoid hindering the investigation ordered by Kufuor.

Meanwhile, a government spokesman said this week that dozens were still fleeing the town of Yendi.