unrest in cameroon last month

you may or may not have heard about the riots in cameroon late last month. it certainly made the news. but unless you were digging a little deeper than just headlines and a few brief paragraphs, you probably wouldn't have gathered much:

BBC News | Africa | Cameroon Head Blames Opposition (2/28/2008)

it seems like a taxi strike on increased fuel prices in douala sparked more general rioting (and, in some cases, looting) in cities like yaounde, bamenda and kumba... the riots being attributed to everything from frustration with cost of living increases, attempts at altering the constitution to extend the president's term in office, to youth copycatting the violence in kenya.

IRIN, the Integrated Regional Information Network (part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), has a series of 3 brief articles that are worth reading on the situation:

-Douala Burns as Taxi Strike Turns into General Rioting (2/25/2008)
-Unrest Spreads to Yaounde Even After Taxi Strike Ends (2/27/2008)
-Not Quite Back to Normal (3/6/2008)

there are a number of more detailed articles posted on the US-based Friends of Cameroon website. and an interesting blog post on Peace Corps Cameroon's response to the rioting (to evacuate or not?) from a volunteer currently serving in the country: CONSOLIDATION Vacation, by Tim Hartman.