Protester shot dead in Guinea
2013-03-05 10:35
Conakry - At least one person was killed and six others
wounded on Monday when Guinea's security forces opened fire in the capital, a
human rights group said, warning of a deepening ethnic conflict stemming from
rows over forthcoming legislative elections.
The gunfire broke out shortly after Guinea's main opposition
leaders boycotted a meeting called by President Alpha Conde aimed at ending
days of unrest that has spread beyond the capital and now killed at least six
people.
Hundreds of protesters have been wounded since the unrest
began on Wednesday. Guinea's notoriously ill-disciplined security forces have a
history of brutal crackdowns on protests.
"Seven people were hit by bullets fired by the security
forces," Thierno Maadjou Sow, head of Guinea's main human rights watchdog,
OGDH, told Reuters.
"One of them, Mamadou Aliou Bah, died from his
wounds," he added. "It has become an ethnic battle between the
Malinke and the Peul. Wherever one group is in the minority, they are attacked
by the other."
Government spokesperson Damantang Albert Camara said the
situation was "worrying" but would not give a toll for Monday's
clashes.
Behind Guinea's political feuding there is a rivalry between
the Malinke and the Peul, Guinea's two largest ethnic groups. The Malinke
broadly support the government while the opposition draws heavily from the
Peul.
Conde wants to discuss preparations for a long-delayed
election that is meant to complete a transition to civilian rule after a 2008
military coup. He missed a deadline on Sunday for a presidential decree to
officially call the election for May 12.
Framework of dialogue
Preparations for the vote, which is essential to unlock
hundreds of millions of dollars in European aid to the world's largest bauxite
supplier, are being hampered by opposition claims that the government is
seeking to rig the outcome.
A reduced opposition delegation, led by spokesman Aboubacar
Sylla and former Prime Minister Jean-Marie Dore, went to the talks on Monday
with Conde, who narrowly won a 2010 election.
"We put forward our demands and argued that today our
country has need of peace and development," Sylla said after the meeting.
The opposition reiterated its call to replace South African firm Waymark which
manages the electoral roll, he said.
A source who took part in the talks, and asked not to be
named, said the brief meeting was concluded after statements from both sides
and did not involve negotiation.
"This was simply a preliminary meeting to set a
framework for dialogue," Camara, the government spokesman, said.
Earlier on Monday, the violent protests had spread to Labe,
a fiefdom of opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo, in central Guinea, some 450km
from the coastal capital.
"We are showing our support for our dead and injured
brothers in Conakry," said Yimbering Diallo, a Labe resident. "We
demand free and fair elections."
