From disc jockey to nation's top job

A feisty one-time DJ who is still officially too young to run for president, Andry Rajoelina was handed the reins of the Indian Ocean nation by the army on Tuesday.

At 34, Rajoelina succeeded in an unlikely bid to unseat the island's strongman, Marc Ravalomanana, which started only late last year when he aired increasingly vociferous criticism of the regime on his private TV channel.

The string of demonstrations organized by Rajoelina's camp since the start of the year rarely attracted more than a few thousand supporters and his movement often appeared in danger of fizzling out.