/ 25 February 2007

Guinea troops pull down street barricades

Guinea’s military ordered the country to go back to work as it removed barricades from the streets on Sunday following the lifting of martial law, amid simmering unrest over President Lansana Conte’s rule.

Guinea’s usually obedient Parliament dealt a blow to Conte when it voted unanimously on Friday to end the state of siege he had slapped on the West African country after weeks of bloodily repressed protests.

”This decision is historic. It’s the first time that the Assembly dominated by Conte’s party has voted against him,” Souleymane Diallo, director of the privately owned Lynx newspaper, said on Saturday.

”By losing support of Parliament, the president is detached even more from his country, but retains the strong support of the army, which represents the continuity of his regime.”

Police and military patrols had withdrawn from the streets of the capital, Conakry, and other major cities on Saturday. Most businesses remained shut but military chief Kerfalla Camara ordered everyone back to work by Monday.

”We think that this announcement is illegal in so far as the state of siege is concerned. It is not for the army to say go back to work,” said Ben Sekou Sylla, president of the National Council of Civil Society Organisations.

”The state of siege is finished and the army does not have any role to play in the country,” said Ibrahima Fofana, of the Syndicated Union of Workers of Guinea.

The powerful unions called a strike on January 10, which was suspended after Conte agreed to name a consensus prime minister, but resumed last week in protest against his choice of premier.

”The strike call holds as long as the prime minister is not replaced,” said Fofana.

The unions have rejected Conte’s appointment of Eugene Camara, his close ally, in a move that sparked further violence across the country. At least 113 people have been killed in a brutal crackdown by security forces since mid-January.

Under martial law, the military had been given increased powers of search and arrest in a bid to restore order.

Mediators from the Economic Community of West African States were due to meet Conte on Saturday in a bid to find a solution to the crisis gripping the bauxite-rich country.

Legislative elections are due in June. — Sapa-AFP