Guinea vows to pay soldiers
2008-05-28 08:44
Conakry - Faced with mounting protests by soldiers demanding long-overdue wages, the government of Guinea has announced that it will pay the arrears, some of which go back to 1996.
"Following the demands formulated by the soldiers, the government has decided on the following measures: the gradual payment of 5 million Guinean francs ($1 234) per person," the government said in a statement.
According to the authorities, each soldier would be paid one million Guinean francs before the end of May. The announcement came after president Lansana Conte on Tuesday sacked Defence Minister Mamadou Bailo Diallo.
The events followed soldiers' protests on Monday, which saw at least one person killed and eight - including a high-ranking army officer - wounded by stray bullets.
The soldiers had also captured Guinea's deputy chief-of-staff, General Mamadou Sampil, and held him since Monday afternoon at the country's largest military base, Alfa Yaya Diallo, near the capital's international airport.
Seven people wounded
Late on Monday, the protesting soldiers shot and wounded a top officer, Major Korka Diallo, who was in charge of military finances, military sources said.
Witnesses said that another seven people were wounded on Monday night near the army base after being hit by stray bullets.
In Kindia, some 130km east of the capital Conakry, a stray bullets killed one woman after soldiers fired randomly on Monday night.
She was the first person killed since the soldiers took to the streets in several towns across Guinea in a repeat of anti-government protests staged in May last year over the same issue.
Then, at least eight people died and dozens more were injured by stray bullets.
Already on that occasion, Guinea's Conte, who had ruled the West African nation with an iron fist since 1984, sacked the army's senior officers and his defence minister.
Last week Conte sacked his prime minister Lansana Kouyate, a compromise candidate put forward under a deal to end a general strike and massive protests in 2007, and replaced him with his confidant Ahmed Tidiane Souare.
The dismissal of Kouyate was one of the soldiers' grievances, as they said they had nobody to address their grievances since his departure from office.