Guinea president survives bid on life
Source: Agencies |
July 20, 2011, Wednesday
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GUINEA'S president survived an assassination attempt yesterday after gunmen encircled his home in the capital Conakry and pounded it with heavy-artillery fire, throwing into doubt the stability of the country's first democratically elected government in a part of the world often ruled by the gun.
President Alpha Conde was awoken by the shooting, which erupted around his residence between 3 and 5am. An RPG rocket landed inside the compound, destroying a part of the home, and one of his bodyguards was killed while several others were wounded, said Francois Louceny Fall, a minister at the presidency who acts as Conde's chief of staff.
The 73-year-old Conde later addressed the nation on state radio, saying his security detail had "heroically fought starting at 3:10am until reinforcements arrived." He urged people to remain calm, saying the attack would not derail the promises he made to voters seven months ago when he became the first democratically elected leader in Guinea's 52-year history.
Just hours later shooting broke out again near his home.
"If your hand is in the hand of God, nothing can happen to you ... Our enemies can try everything, but they will not stop the march of the Guinean people," Conde said in his address.
Soldiers fanned out across the capital city located on a peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean on Africa's western coast. They tied ropes between trees at intersections, and traffic was at a standstill as each car was stopped and trunks searched. Military helicopters circled overhead. Shops and schools were closed.
Millions of dollars were invested by the international community to ensure last year's transparent vote, and a coup would be a major setback for the region, analysts say. "It just shows the fragility of the country," said Guinea-based election expert Elizabeth Cote of the International Foundation for Election Systems. "It's hard to brand what just happened, but hopefully it can be a wake-up call."
The country had been ruled by a military junta since the death of veteran leader Lansana Conte in 2008, who himself came to power in the first coup in 1984.
Another coup in 2008 brought an army captain to power who became known for his frightening temper and his taste for televised interrogations of opponents. He was deposed a year later when his bodyguard shot him in the head. So it took the world by surprise when the general who then seized power in the final month of 2009 agreed to hand over the country to civilians in elections organized last November.
But the vote was marred by days of ethnic violence pitting Conde's supporters - who are Malinke like him - against the Peul, the ethnic group of the defeated candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo.
Frustration has grown since then because Conde has failed to create an inclusive government, instead stacking it with members of his ethnicity, and because the country's grinding poverty has not yet been alleviated.
The fact that most people live in poverty in Guinea is a source of dark irony because the nation is rich in iron, gold, diamonds and has the world's largest supply of bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum.
President Alpha Conde was awoken by the shooting, which erupted around his residence between 3 and 5am. An RPG rocket landed inside the compound, destroying a part of the home, and one of his bodyguards was killed while several others were wounded, said Francois Louceny Fall, a minister at the presidency who acts as Conde's chief of staff.
The 73-year-old Conde later addressed the nation on state radio, saying his security detail had "heroically fought starting at 3:10am until reinforcements arrived." He urged people to remain calm, saying the attack would not derail the promises he made to voters seven months ago when he became the first democratically elected leader in Guinea's 52-year history.
Just hours later shooting broke out again near his home.
"If your hand is in the hand of God, nothing can happen to you ... Our enemies can try everything, but they will not stop the march of the Guinean people," Conde said in his address.
Soldiers fanned out across the capital city located on a peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean on Africa's western coast. They tied ropes between trees at intersections, and traffic was at a standstill as each car was stopped and trunks searched. Military helicopters circled overhead. Shops and schools were closed.
Millions of dollars were invested by the international community to ensure last year's transparent vote, and a coup would be a major setback for the region, analysts say. "It just shows the fragility of the country," said Guinea-based election expert Elizabeth Cote of the International Foundation for Election Systems. "It's hard to brand what just happened, but hopefully it can be a wake-up call."
The country had been ruled by a military junta since the death of veteran leader Lansana Conte in 2008, who himself came to power in the first coup in 1984.
Another coup in 2008 brought an army captain to power who became known for his frightening temper and his taste for televised interrogations of opponents. He was deposed a year later when his bodyguard shot him in the head. So it took the world by surprise when the general who then seized power in the final month of 2009 agreed to hand over the country to civilians in elections organized last November.
But the vote was marred by days of ethnic violence pitting Conde's supporters - who are Malinke like him - against the Peul, the ethnic group of the defeated candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo.
Frustration has grown since then because Conde has failed to create an inclusive government, instead stacking it with members of his ethnicity, and because the country's grinding poverty has not yet been alleviated.
The fact that most people live in poverty in Guinea is a source of dark irony because the nation is rich in iron, gold, diamonds and has the world's largest supply of bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum.
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