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Senegal swears in Africa’s youngest elected leader as president in a dramatic prison-to-palace rise

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BY JESSICA DONATI AND BABACAR DIONE

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal inaugurated Africa’s youngest elected leader as president on Tuesday, as the 44-year-old and previously little-known Bassirou Diomaye Faye completed a dramatic ascent from prison to palace within weeks.

Hours later, Ousmane Sonko, the popular opposition figure who helped catapult him to victory, was named as the country’s new prime minister.

Last month’s election tested Senegal’s reputation as a stable democracy in West Africa, a region rocked in recent years by coups and attempted coups. Both Faye and Sonko were released from prison less than two weeks before the vote following a political amnesty announced by outgoing President Macky Sall.

Their arrests had sparked months of protests and concerns that Sall would seek a third term in office despite term limits. Rights groups said dozens were killed and about 1,000 were jailed. In his first speech as president, Faye

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