The end is near for one more African despot as shown by this story from 
Guinea Conakry. Despots won't learn the easy way, but they will learn the 
very hard way as Lansana Conteh is now doing. This guy has been in power 
since 1984; he is so sick with diabetes he can hardly walk. Yet, in Decemebr 
2005 (?) he had the constitution amended and himself elected for yet another 
seven-year term. We would never advocate for military coups; but what 
options does Africa have for changing their leaders when they so greedily 
cling on to power, even at the cost of sacrifing entire populations? Down 
with all dictatorships.

Baba


Guinea: Government On the Brink As Soldiers Rampage

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
11 May 2007
Conakry

Hundreds of marauding soldiers fired guns in the air in the streets of 
Conakry and other towns around the country on Friday, further threatening 
the ability of Guinea's beleaguered president Lansana Conte to govern.

Banks, schools, markets and shops all closed at around 11.30am as news 
spread that heavily armed soldiers were marching into town, after talks 
between senior military officials and soldiers at a military base near the 
airport collapsed.


"We want the leaders who stole our wages and betrayed us to step down," one 
of the soldiers marching in central Conakry close to the presidential 
palace, told IRIN on Friday afternoon.

In the morning IRIN also saw presidential guards, distinguished by their red 
berets, in the centre of the city. They were shooting in the air in what 
appeared to be an attempt to scare off the mutinous soldiers, but the 
presidential guards were outnumbered and eventually fled.

Also in the city centre, witnesses said uniformed soldiers shot at an 
unmarked car carrying an army officer, who was then dragged out of his 
vehicle.

The army's agenda is unclear and it is currently "very disorganised," 
Elisabeth Cote, who represents the Washington-based election support NGO 
IFES in Guinea told IRIN. "It seems likely the army doesn't want [President] 
Conte anymore," she said ."[If so] it doesn't take much organising and then 
one considers it a coup."

The disgruntled soldiers, who were demanding money and promotions, began 
shooting last week inside barracks around the country. The government showed 
signs that it would meet some of their demands on Thursday, handing out 
salary arrears and raising the rank of every soldiers who had served longer 
than four years by one grade.

But the soldier IRIN talked to said that for him and his colleagues to 
return to their barracks, President Conte, himself a former army officer and 
still head of the armed forces, would have to do more. The soldier listed 
the names of all the senior military and ministry of defence officials that 
the president would have to fire.

Trade unions had led strikes in January and February which paralysed the 
country for several weeks as tens of thousands of demonstrators demanding 
President Conte's resignation attacked administrative buildings and clashed 
with the army and presidential guard.

The army killed at least 137 people as it enforced martial law for almost 
two weeks until Conte compromised with the unions and devolved some of his 
powers to a consensus prime minister, former diplomat Lansana Kouyate.

On Friday, civil society groups said they would hold an emergency meeting to 
discuss the army mutiny but the president of the civil society organisations 
Ben Sekou Sylla had already made it clear to IRIN that he would not support 
the soldiers.

"We do not support any movement that destabilizes the current process 
towards democracy," he said. "The army is part of civil society but if they 
have a problem they should resolved it through dialogue."

The soldiers appeared to have coordinated the latest mutiny in barracks 
across the country starting on Thursday night at around 10pm by shooting in 
the air in such towns as Faranah, Gu嶰k嶮ou, Labe, Kankan, Kissidougou and 
Kindia. Intense shooting continued through most of the night and into the 
morning.

In Kindia two civilians were killed by soldiers who had been looting shops 
in the main market. One of the dead was a child who had been sitting in 
front of his house.

In the centre of Conakry where many civilians work, there were few taxis and 
buses on Friday leaving many to walk home. "We hear all this shooting and it 
is not our problem," said Fode Soumah a trader walking briskly to try to get 
to safety. "But we are all afraid for our lives."

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

_________________________________________________________________
Don't just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! 
http://search.msn.com/

中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中