MBABANE, Swaziland, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Protesters clashed with police Wednesday in Swaziland as two representatives of a South African union were detained, trade union leaders said.
Police broke up the demonstration using tear gas, the Times of Swaziland reported. As the South Africans were removed, marchers sang songs making fun of the police.
Zingiswa Losi, deputy president, Zanele Matebula, deputy international secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, had come to Swaziland, a small landlocked country almost surrounded by South Africa, to support the protests. Swaziland Federation of Labor Secretary-General Vincent Ngcongwane said the two women were deported after being questioned for an hour at a police station.
Police Superintendent Wendy Hleta said officers had asked the South Africans not to speak publicly and had asked Swaziland union leaders to refrain from having foreigners address the marchers.
"You cannot say they were detained because police have a right to take someone in for questioning. The police spoke to them and asked them what their mission was," she said.
