'No to junta candidacy'

2009-08-31 09:34

Conakry - Hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the US embassy in Conakry on Sunday calling for Guinea's junta leader not to stand in January's presidential election, an AFP correspondent reported.

The demonstration passed off peacefully after a similar rally on Thursday led to violent clashes with police and paramilitary gendarmes.

The demonstration was organised by a recently created group called the Dadis Must Go Movement - in reference to junta chief Captain Moussa Dadis Camara.

"Dadis must go," shouted one demonstrator. "No to Captain Dadis' candidacy," shouted another.

The protesters demanded that Camara does not stand as a candidate in the elections and also called on his junta colleagues in the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) to abstain in the polls.

Growing pressure

Camara, who seized power on December 23, 2008, within hours of the death of long-serving president Lansana Conte, has been vague about whether he plans to stand in the promised presidential election next January.

Washington in January suspended aid to Guinea, with the exception of humanitarian aid and programmes supporting the democratic process, and called for a return to civilian rule and the holding of elections following the coup.

The self-proclaimed president said last week that if the opposition wanted to stop him from being a candidate "it is they who don't understand anything about democracy".

Camara announced presidential and parliamentary polls on August 17, under growing pressure at home and from abroad. The junta pledged that the first round of a presidential poll will be on January 31, 2010, with a legislative election on March 26.

- SAPA