Guinea PM vows to cooperate with UN massacre probe

Guinea Prime Minister Kabine Komara on Wednesday pledged to back a United Nations-led inquiry into a bloody crackdown on an opposition rally by security forces, which has been globally condemned.

“We have confirmed by letter to the United Nations our determination to support the international commission [probing the killings],” Komara told reporters.

Komara invited “all parties” under investigation “to spare no effort” in helping the inquiry.

“If we fail to grasp this outstretched hand ... we will be accused of trying to hide the truth,” he said.

Haile Menekrios, the UN’s deputy secretary general for political affairs, visited Guinea on Sunday and Monday for meetings with military officials, including President Moussa Dadis Camara and Prime Minister Komara.

The junta of President Dadis Camara on Saturday set up its own 31-member independent commission of inquiry into the massacre, which would work in tandem with a UN inquiry.

The United Nations estimates that about 150 people were killed in a Conakry stadium on September 28 when troops opened fire on a rally urging Camara not to stand in elections planned for January.

The junta says 56 people were killed, while rights groups say that at least 157 people were killed and more than 1 200 hurt, including women who were raped by soldiers.—Sapa-AFP