Camara regrets massacre

2009-11-03 09:00

By About Bakr

Conakry - The man who led Guinea's most recent coup says he "bitterly regrets" the deaths of civilians who were gunned down by soldiers at a protest last month.

Captain Moussa "Dadis" Camara said in a TV broadcast late on Monday that "the blood of innocent people has been spilled" and that he "prostrates himself" before their memory. But the controversial coup leader declined to say that men under his control were responsible for the September 28 deaths of over 150 pro-democracy protesters.

Camara said opposition leaders were to blame for having organised the demonstration. And in an apparent rebuke to the European Union which has recently issued sanctions against members of his government, Camara said he would not stand by while foreigners try to "teach Guinea a moral lesson".

- SAPA