Sierra Leone acts tough on corrupt investors amid Guinea worries

Guinea’s opposition is demanding the military junta gives up the power it seized last December. Tensions have risen since the September 28 killings of opposition protesters in a soccer stadium by security forces, an incident human rights groups described as a pre-planned massacre.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, attending an investment conference in London with Sierra Leone officials, said he was confident the Guinea crisis need not spill over into neighbouring countries.

However, Mr Blair, who sent British troops into Sierra Leone in 2000 after rebels flouted a peace deal, refused to be drawn on how the international community should respond if the Guinea situation worsens.

“The government in Sierra Leone has changed two times now by democratic mandate, but, more than that, there is a whole new attitude in Sierra Leone around investment, around developing the opportunities of the country,” he said. (Reuters)