Guineans to continue demos

2009-09-29 22:18

Dakar - A Guinean opposition leader, Alpha Conde, said on Tuesday that demonstrations would go on to rid the country of its "criminal regime" after a bloodbath in a stadium claimed more than 150 lives.

"We'll continue with demonstrations until we get satisfaction. It's no longer a matter of elections (slated for January 2010), but to get rid of this criminal regime that fires on youths at point-blank range," Conde said from New York.

"These are the same killings (as in 2007) which are beginning again. It means to say they are ready to impose a military dictatorship, but we are ready to mobilise the people to impose change, because nobody wants a military regime."

Conde is a veteran opposition leader who heads the Rally of the People of Guinea (RPG) party.

The Guinean Human Rights Organisation said at least 157 people were killed and more than 1 250 wounded when Guinean troops opened fire on protesters in the capital Conakry on Monday.

The United Nations, African Union and European Union all expressed alarm over the killings among tens of thousands of people who attended the rally against junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara.

The rally in a Conakry stadium had been intended to urge Captain Camara not to run for office in a presidential election the junta has announced for next January.

People defied a ban to take part in the rally, and then they found themselves at the mercy of the presidential guard troops and the police.

- SAPA