Guinean junta defies Ecowas call to resign

Guinea’s interim junta leader, General Sékouba Kounaté, has reiterated the regime’s allegiance to his wounded and hospitalised military boss, Capt Moussa Dadis Camara.

He has also insisted that the idea of an immediate transition of power was “not a priority”.

Gen Kounaté made the statement on Thursday in an interview with Radio France International (RFI) following a call by the West African intergovernmental organisation that the interim junta leadership resigns immediately to enable a government of national unity pave the way for democratic elections by next year.

On Wednesday, the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) Commission, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, observed that uncertainty over the health condition of the wounded junta leader was hindering the democratisation process in Guinea.

Dr Chambas therefore requested that the interim government should immediately resign to enable a civilian apparatus to prepare the terrain for a free and fair election sometime next year.

Reacting further, Gen Kounaté said: “What is on the agenda now is the safe return of the Guinean leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara back to this country and continue leading Guineans on the path to a free and transparent election.”

He maintained that Captain Camara was still the leader of the Guinean people and hence nothing will change (referring to the government) in his absence until he returns, but the General did not say how soon.

Captain Camara is in hospital in Rabat, Morocco, after having undergone a surgery in the head following an assassination attempt a week ago by his former senior body guard, Lt Sidiki Diakité.

Gen Kounaté, who is also the Defence Minister of the regime, then seized the opportunity of the RFI interview to announce the suspension of the junta delegation’s participation at the peace talks being brokered by the Ecowas mediator, President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso.

The interim junta leader expressed regrets to the international community and the mediator for the absence of the junta delegation to the peace talks which were to resume in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, on Friday.

Dialogue between the Guinean military regime and the civilian sector including the opposition political parties and civil society organisations had come to a virtual halt over the last few weeks following the mediator’s proposal that the junta leads a transition government that will pave the way for democratic elections next year.

Umbrella coalition

But the civilian sector under the umbrella coalition known as “Forces Vives” had urged the mediator to work out a transition plan without the participation of Captain Camara or any of the junta collaborators.

Following the failure of the interim leadership of the junta to adhere to the appeal by Ecowas to resign on Thursday, the regional organisation announced that it would hold an emergency session at its headquarters in the Nigerian political capital, Abuja, on Saturday in order to discuss the latest development in the crisis.

Meanwhile, the United States government on Thursday announced that it was giving the Guinean military regime another chance to work out a comprehensive plan out of the crisis by opening up dialogue with the interim leadership.

Even though no details were given, it is believed that the United States embassy in the Guinean capital, Conakry, which has remained silent since the crisis, will now open direct talks with the interim junta leadership in a bid to work out a roadmap out of the crisis.

Relations between the military junta and the “Forces Vives” turned sour nearly four months ago when the self-proclaimed military leader insinuated during a television chat, that he would take part in the presidential elections that were billed for January 2010 in contradiction to his promise earlier, that he and his collaborators would stay out of the election race.

Opened fire

On September 28, 2009, the junta presidential guards opened fire and killed an estimated 157 pro-democracy civilian protesters at the national soccer stadium in the capital, sparking off a wave of condemnations from the international community that led to the setting up of an independent investigation commission by the United Nations.

As the investigations drew to a close, the man who was widely believed to have masterminded the killings, rape and torture, Lieutnant Sidiki Diakité, also Capt Camara’s former body guard, opened fire at the head of state and has since been on the run.

The act has been described by analysts as an attempt by the former bodyguard to avoid being roped in as the “sacrificial lamb” of the regime for the September 28 mayhem.