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11 killed in Guinea unrest
12/02/2007 22:17 - (SA)
Conakry - Violent unrest in Guinea spread to a military headquarters housing an elite army unit on Monday as another day of clashes in the west African nation claimed a further 11 lives.
Heavy gunfire reverberated across the Alpha Yaya military camp near Conakry's international airport, apparently in protest at the arrival in the capital of fighters from nearby Liberia and recent promotions of some army officers, said military sources.
The camp was the scene of an unsuccessful 1996 mutiny aimed at deposing Guinea's ailing leader General Lansana Conte who has taken refuge inside Samory Toure, another military camp in Conakry city centre which houses the army's chiefs of staff.
Elsewhere skirmishes between demonstrators and security forces broke out in several neighbourhoods of the capital, leaving at least 11 people dead taking the death toll since January 10 to 97.
Three soldiers are among the casualties, lynched by angry mobs.
Conte, 72, himself a military general who seized power in a coup 23 years ago, has usually enjoyed the support of the army and managed to keep it together.
"Conte knows that his power rests mainly on the army. Guinea is a republic, but in practice it is a military regime," Gilles Yabi, said an expert on Guinea with the global think-tank International Crisia Group (ICG).
Corinne Dufka, head of Human Rights Watch (HRW) West Africa office said that former Liberian LURD (Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy) fighters had been recruited to protect Conte in the crisis.
"It seems that he lacks confidence in his army," said Dufka.
As the strike raged last month, Conte called on the army to remain united and to stand by him.
Mounting political violence
Most businesses were meantime closed and the streets of the centre of the capital Conakry were deserted but skirmishes raged on in the suburbs.
In one incident government troops shot dead at least three people during clashes between youths armed with clubs and security forces in several neighbourhoods in outlying suburbs of the capital.
The latest deaths took the toll from this year's unrest to at least 97.
The mounting political violence in the past month has fuelled speculation that the ailing Conte was losing his grip on the west African nation.
Unions threw their weight behind opposition calls for Conte, who suffers from diabetes and is rarely seen in public, to resign after he angered them with his choice of a new prime minister.
They called Monday's work stoppage in a bid to resume a general strike that crippled the nation for 18 days until January 27 and saw 59 people killed in violent clashes.
The strike was called off when Conte finally agreed to name a prime minister with increased powers, but his final choice of long-time ally Eugene Camara sparked new unrest.
Former colonial power France on Monday expressed its "very serious concern" at the unrest in Guinea, calling on all parties to exercise restraint.
Air France and Air Senegal have both cancelled flights to Conakry, citing security fears.
Guinea, with a population of 9.4 million, is the world's leading exporter of bauxite, but was named as one of the world's most corrupt countries by graft watchdog Transparency International.
- AFP
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