KIGALI, Rwanda
Putschists in Guinea released a group of political opponents of deposed president Alpha Condé on Tuesday, as a regional bloc prepared to discuss the turmoil in the West African nation.
Special forces led by
Lieutenant Colonel Mamady Doumbouya staged a coup in the mineral-rich but
impoverished country on Sunday and arrested the president, sparking
international condemnation.
The 83-year-old
president was under fire for perceived authoritarianism, with dozens of
opposition activists arrested after a violently disputed election last
year.
An AFP journalist saw
about 20 prisoners freed from prison in the capital Conakry on Tuesday evening,
including prominent opposition activists.
Lawyers representing
the detainees said that 79 people had been cleared for release in discussions
with the military.
"We pray to God
that this is a new era for Guinea. May no Guinean be in prison for the same
reasons as us," said Ismael Condé, a recently freed opposition-party
activist.
The military released a
communique on Monday urging the justice ministry to accelerate the release of
"political detainees".
Doumbouya on Tuesday
also repeated a pledge to hold talks on forming a new government.
"The government to
be installed will be that of national unity and will ensure this political
transition," he tweeted.
Sunday's coup triggered
broad diplomatic condemnation -- including from the United States, European
Union, African Union and the West African bloc ECOWAS -- with calls for Condé's
release.
The Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS) is due to hold a virtual extraordinary summit
to discuss the crisis on Wednesday.
Russia also said it
wanted Guinean institutions restored "as soon as possible".
"We expect in any
case that the interests of our businessmen... will not be affected," a
Kremlin spokesman said.
Public discontent in
Guinea had been brewing for months over a flatlining Covid-hit economy and the
leadership of Condé, who became the first democratically elected
president in 2010 and was re-elected in 2015.
But last year, Condé
pushed through a new constitution that allowed him to run for a third term in
October 2020.
The move sparked mass
demonstrations in which dozens of protesters were killed. Condé
won the election but the political opposition maintained the poll was a sham.
Doumbouya, hours after
taking power, appeared on television and accused the government of
"endemic corruption" and of "trampling on citizens'
rights".
Condé's whereabouts are currently unknown, although
the military has guaranteed his safety.
A video sent to AFP by
the putschists on Sunday showed a rumpled-looking Condé sitting on a
sofa, in jeans and a partly unbuttoned shirt, surrounded by troops.
He refused to answer a
question about whether he was being mistreated.
The military coup was
met with jubilation in some parts of Conakry, where residents turned out on the
streets to applaud passing soldiers.
Cellou Dalein Diallo,
the country's main opposition leader, also backed the move in the hope that it
will lead to "a peaceful democracy" in the nation of 13 million
people.
On Monday, Diallo's
opposition coalition ANAD urged the ruling military to establish
"legitimate institutions capable of implementing reforms" and to
uphold the rule of law.
Guinea's putschists
dissolved the constitution and the government after the coup.
On Tuesday, soldiers
began to dismantle police and army roadblocks around the capital, which critics
of Conde said had been installed to control protests.
No deaths have been
officially reported in the putsch, although reports in Guinean media have
suggested that between a dozen and 20 people were killed.
AFP was unable to independently
confirm the reports.
In his first public
appearance as military leader on Monday, Doumbouya promised that there would be
no "witch hunt" against former government members.
Ministers have
nonetheless been banned from leaving the country.
Doumbouya has also
sought to reassure the business community, alarmed over the potential for
disruptions in commodity supply chains.
Mining is the economic
backbone of Guinea, which has abundant mineral resources, from bauxite and iron
ore to gold and diamonds.
Guinea will continue to
uphold "all its undertakings and mining agreements," Doumbouya
said.
The coup leader is in
his early forties and was trained at France's Ecole de Guerre military academy.
He was also a member of the French Foreign Legion.
No comments:
Post a Comment