A military junta tightened its grip on Guinea yesterday after a junior army officer declared himself the new president and ordered members of the government to give themselves up within 24 hours.
Captain Moussa Dadis Camara had paraded through the streets with hundreds of soldiers on Wednesday before announcing that he was in charge following the death of longtime dictator Lansana Conte.
A crowd of thousands of coup supporters thronged the streets on Conakry, surrounding the presidential palace and the government ministries, before dispersing peacefully.
PHOTO: AFP
Conte had ruled with an iron fist since 1984 and within hours of his passing late on Monday, a group of soldiers took control of the airwaves and claimed to have seized power in the impoverished but mineral-rich west African state.
“I am convinced, reassured, that I am the president of the republic, the head of the National Council for Democracy and Development [CNDD],” Camara said at his first press conference late on Wednesday.
Later, in a statement read on radio and state television the CNDD junta said: “All army officers and all the former members of the government are asked to go to camp Alpha Yaya Diallo in the next 24 hours.”
When the ultimatum had passed for all to go to the main military base near the international airport, “a sweep of the entire national territory will be organized,” the new military leadership warned.
The clampdown came amid growing international condemnation of the coup, with the African Union warning of “stern measures” if the military ignored calls to allow a democratic transition of power.
The US threatened to suspend its aid, some US$15 million this year, if coup leaders did not take steps to return civilian rule.
“One of the things we want to see immediately is a restoration of a civilian democratic rule,” State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.
Camara plans to lead a 32-member interim administration, made up of 26 military officers and six civilians, and has ruled out any new elections until December 2010.
The junta has delayed the imposing of a curfew until today “to allow Christians to celebrate a peaceful Christmas holiday,” a statement read on national radio said.
Guinean Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare has so far maintained his government is still in charge and the UN’s special envoy to West Africa said on Wednesday it was too early to gauge who was in control of the country.
“No camp has so far been able to ascertain its position,” Said Djinnit told an emergency meeting of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council in the Ethiopian capital. “On the one hand, you’ve got a group of 32 people who want power and pretend the situation is under their control. On the other hand, the government and the army chief staff are still there and claim they are in power.”
Leader since 1984 when he ousted Guinea’s first president Ahmed Sekou Toure, Conte was a chain smoker who suffered from chronic diabetes and was at one time diagnosed with leukemia.
He had relied on the army, along with his clan, to bolster his authority, but in recent years social tension and criticism of Conte’s regime had become increasingly open.
Conte’s state funeral will be held in his home village today, a family source said.
Guinea, a small nation of about 10 million people, is the world’s leading exporter of bauxite, an ore from which aluminum is produced.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because