Ethnic clashes erupt in Guinea capital
2013-03-01 19:26
Conakry - Rival gangs fought with knives and truncheons
in Guinea's crumbling seaside capital on Friday as ethnic tension worsened
before an election in the unstable West African nation, witnesses said.
Security forces in full anti-riot gear piled into the
backs of pick-up trucks and deployed across Conakry to separate the fighters as
President Alpha Conde's government appealed for calm.
"It has become very bad. People set fire to a car
right in front of me. I've seen four people injured in the fighting," said
Souleymane Bah, a resident of Bambeto, one of several areas where clashes were
reported.
"We've locked ourselves inside a bank. I can see
people fighting outside," resident Abdoulaye Sylla, told Reuters by
telephone from Conakry's Dixxin neighbourhood.
Residents in other areas fled in panic as the gangs from
rival ethnic groups roamed the streets, according to witnesses.
The long-delayed legislative vote, tentatively set for
May, is needed to complete a transition to civilian rule after a 2008 military
coup, and could open the door to hundreds of millions of dollars in European
aid.
Politics in Guinea are mainly drawn along ethnic lines
with the opposition coalition broadly supported by members of the Peul
ethnicity - the country's biggest ethnic group - and the government supported
by the Malinke.
The fighting on Friday follows two days of
anti-government protests that have sharpened those divisions.
Conde won a 2010 presidential election promising to unite
Guinea in the same way Nelson Mandela did after apartheid in South Africa, but
many of his compatriots say he has failed.
The opposition called last month for protests against
preparations for the parliamentary election, saying the government was seeking
to rig the vote in advance.
Protests
Two days of violent demonstrations followed in which one
civilian was killed and scores of protesters and police were injured.
A government spokesperson said on Friday that opposition
leaders should call on their supporters to halt the fighting.
"We are going to make a declaration calling for
calm. But the opposition leaders need to do the same thing," said
government spokesperson Damantang Albert Camara.
Opposition leader and former premier Sidya Toure said
Conde's government had failed in its promise to reconcile Guinea's longstanding
political and ethnic divisions.
"The situation has clearly degenerated into
inter-ethnic violence between the Peuls and Malinkes. We've already called for
calm, but what can you tell someone who is being attacked with a club?" he
said.
Conde has promised prosperity for the former French
colony's 10 million people, which is the world's top supplier of bauxite, the
raw material in aluminium.
Guinea's economy produces only about $1.50 per person per
day despite a wealth of natural resources, including the world's largest
untapped iron ore deposit.
