Ousted Madagascar leader departs for talks

Madgascar's toppled president Marc Ravalomanana on Monday left for the Seychelles for a second round of talks with the country's leader Andry Rajoelina, a spokesman said.

"They left this afternoon," a Ravalomanana aide told AFP, speaking of the ousted leader and his delegation.

The two rivals are expected to meet on the main Seychelles island Mahe on Wednesday.

The first one-on-one meeting between the rivals ended without a resolution on July 25 on another island in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

The 15-nation Southern African Development Community, which mediated the talks, extended a deadline to August 16 for the rivals to settle their differences. If they fail, they risk exclusion from the mediation process.

Since then, Madagascar has announced the first round of long-awaited elections will take place on May 8 next year.

The Indian Ocean island has been mired in political crisis since Rajoelina ousted Ravalomanana in March 2009 with the army's support.

Although the two last year signed a "roadmap" toward elections, the deal has yet to be fully implemented.

The main point of contention is Ravalomanana's return to his country. Exiled in South Africa for the past three years, he wants to be cleared for the 2013 polls.

He faces life in prison back home after being sentenced in absentia for the killing of demonstrators by his presidential guard during protests that led to his overthrow in 2009.