The dictator of Guinea dies, touching off a coup and struggle for power involving the prime minister and the Army. From AP:
CONAKRY, Guinea – A military-led group seized control of the airwaves in Guinea and declared a coup Tuesday after the death of the mineral-rich West African country's longtime dictator, but the prime minister insisted he remained in charge.
An Associated Press reporter saw three tanks and dozens of armed soldiers heading toward the office of the prime minister inside the country's presidential compound.
The troops' allegiance was not immediately apparent. But they appeared less than an hour after Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare announced in a state broadcast that he was inside his office and that his government had not been dissolved.
Earlier Tuesday, a group calling itself the National Council for Democracy began announcing its takeover on state-run radio and TV, just hours after longtime dictator Lansana Conte's death was made public.
"The government is dissolved. The institutions of the republic are dissolved. ... From this moment on, the council is taking charge of the destiny of the Guinean people," said the coup leader, who identified himself as Capt. Moussa Camara.
The coup came just hours after the death of Conte, who was one of the last members of a dwindling group of so-called "African Big Men" who came to power by the gun and resisted the democratic tide sweeping the continent.
And from the BBC:
Earlier, the leader of the Union for the Progress of Guinea and the secretary of the opposition alliance, Frad, Jean-Marie Dore, called for a peaceful transition of power.
Veteran opposition leader Alpha Konde returned to Guinea on Sunday after 15 months of self-imposed exile in France. He left Guinea after being released from jail.
According to the constitution the National Assembly speaker should be in charge until a presidential election is held within 60 days.
The BBC's Will Ross says many analysts had predicted the army would try to take over following Mr Conte's death because he had been increasingly relying on it to shore up his oppressive rule.
General Conte came to power in 1984 at the head of a military coup to fill the vacuum left by the sudden death of his predecessor, Sekou Toure, who had been president since independence from France in 1958.
He eventually oversaw a return to civilian rule and was elected three times, although critics said the votes were never free or fair.
As his health declined over the last five years, it was often unclear who was in charge and the government barely functioned, our correspondent says.
Although Guinea's mineral wealth makes it potentially one of Africa's richest countries, its population of about 10 million is among the poorest in the region.
Which unfortunately, makes it just one of several African countries to be in that state.
By the way Guinea, a former French colony, is not to be confused with Equatorial Guiniea, the former Spanish colony located a bit further down the West coast of the continent. It too has a nasty dictator, and mineral wealth that is not being exploited for the benefit of its people (in Equatorial Guinea's case, the curse is not bauxite, but oil.)Labels: Africa, coups, Guinea, international news |
