Friends of Guinea

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CONAKRY, 15 November (IRIN) - Student protesters clashed with police, and a strike called by Guinea's oldest trade union disrupted schools and health services, as anger over the country's economic woes spilled out of the workplace.

"Since the increase in fuel prices last May and the attendant increase in the prices of basic goods and services, not a penny has been added to workers' wages," Yamoussa Toure, Deputy Secretary General of the National Confederation of Guinean Workers (CNTG), told IRIN.

The CNTG called a two-day strike starting Tuesday to demand a four-fold increase in wages and pensions, as well as the establishment of a basic wage and a labour disputes tribunal, and improved transport.

Backed by a second of the country's three trade union groupings, the Guinean Workers Trade Union (USTG), the stoppage disrupted schools and offices and forced hospitals to offer minimal services, with scores of patients lined up for help at the capital's main Donka hospital.

"This is now our last resort," said one worker at the Social Services ministry. "We have been taken for granted for too long by the (President Lansana) Conte regime."

The president of 21 years has faced spiralling anger in the last couple of years over skyrocketing inflation that is sapping the already meagre incomes of those Guineans lucky enough to have a job.

When fuel prices rose by 55 percent in May, causing an immediate knock-on effect on public transport prices, trade unions reacted by demanding a four-fold increase in wages. But negotiations since then with the authorities have failed to produce a rise, triggering
this week's strike action.

"This is not a political action," said El Hadj Mamadou Bah of the CNTG. "We are defending the moral and material interests of workers so that we can live decently."

Rice, the staple food for the West African nation's eight million people, has almost doubled between January 2004 and November 2005, with the free-market price of a 50 kg bag of rice increasing from 50,000 francs to about 85,000 francs. The latter equates to about half the average monthly salary of a civil servant.

Inflation, which was running at just below 28 percent in 2003, up from single digits two years earlier, was at over 30 percent in the second term of 2005, according to the Economy and Finance Ministry.

Tuesday's strike action also hit the country's provinces, with many workers reported to have stayed

In Conakry, angry students attacked and damaged several vehicles and witnesses reported that police had made several arrests. No confirmed casualty figures were immediately available.

Guinea contains a third of the world reserves of bauxite, the mineral ore refined to make aluminium. It also has gold, diamonds and large unexploited reserves of iron ore, as well as enough rain to give it vast agricultural potential.

But diplomats and aid workers say that poor governance and rampant corruption have led to years of economic decline, and there are worries about what will happenwhen Conte, who is 71 and suffering from diabetes, finally departs the scene.

Conakry, Guinea, 11/09 - President Lansana Conte, who is commander-in- chief of the Guinean Armed Forces, has retired 1,872 soldiers, including a number of high-ranking officers, a military source confirmed here Tuesday.

According to the source, President Conte retired the officers and privates last Friday by decree.

General Bailo Diallo, chief of staff of the army and General Abdourahmane Diallo, secretary general of domestic security and founding member of the defunct ruling military committee of national recovery (CMRN) as well as former defence minister, who were outstanding in quelling the September 2000 rebel attacks, are among the retired officers.

Col. Mamadou Baldé, general inspector of the armed forces, founding member of CMRN and former minister of Reform; Col Henry Tofani, former minister of Defence and Commandant Ansoumane Camara, secretary general of the armed forces` administration, were also affected by the decree, a subject of widespread discussion in the capital since the beginning of the week.

Several war-wounded and disabled soldiers as well as soldiers sanctioned for lack of discipline were also shown the door.

The sources said another decree signed 2 November promoted some 1,000 non-commissioned and commissioned officers to various ranks in the army, which observed its 47th anniversary 1 November.

La nouvelle est tombée d’abord de source londonienne avant d’être confirmée par l’Ambassadeur M. Lansana Keita dit Gaucher -contacté par Guinéenews© ce matin : «la Chancellerie de l’Ambassade de Guinée en Angleterre sise au 83 Victoria Street à Londres a été fermée depuis le jeudi 3 novembre 2005, pour non paiement de loyers échus ! »

A Londres, la communauté guinéenne est particulièrement gênée par cette fermeture brutale qui jette l’opprobre et l’anathème sur le symbole de la souveraineté nationale qu’est une représentation diplomatique. Surtout que c’est la troisième fermeture en trois ans pour les mêmes motifs.

Il faut rappeler que c’est au début de cette année que le Consulat de Guinée à Londres a été érigé en Ambassade avec toutes les prérogatives inhérentes à ce nouveau statut. Seulement voilà, les charges ont conséquemment augmenté car l’Irlande du Nord et l’Islande sont tombées dans la même circonscription diplomatique et les moyens financiers n’ont pas suivi. A telle enseigne que sur les quatre trimestres de loyers échus, un seul a été payé à ce jour par le budget national. Cela, la Société immobilière Avanta, gérante, des lieux qui abrite l’Ambassade, se montre intraitable face aux arguments d’impécuniosité dans laquelle se trouve le trésor guinéen, lorsqu’elle somme l’Ambassade de Guinée de payer les 22 000 livres sterling, représentants le montant des trois derniers trimestres de cette année.

L’Ambassadeur rassure ses créanciers sur la base des informations de Conakry disant que « le montant se trouverait au Trésor Public ». Il n’en était rien. Et ce qui devait arriver, arriva alors que M. Keita était à Conakry, pour « débloquer la situation », nous rassure-t-il. Dans tous les cas, l’Agence immobilière n’a aucune envie de subir les mêmes retards de paiements, à l’avenir. Aussi, exige t-elle le paiement intégral et d’avance du loyer de 2006. Dans une tentative laborieuse de trouver une solution pérenne à ce problème récurrent de paiements de loyers, l’Ambassadeur a adressé un courrier en date du 08 août 2006 aux différentes autorités diplomatiques et financières de Guinée pour l’achat d’une propriété foncière qui va abriter la Chancellerie, et peut être la résidence de l’Ambassadeur, dont 75 pour cent du montant va être payé d’avance par la Banque d’Irlande West Endon Business Banking, contactée à cet effet et qui aurait déjà donné son accord de principe. La Banque a seulement demandé à la Guinée de rembourser sur une durée de 15 ans avec un taux d’intérêt de 6,25 pour cent. « Les autorités guinéennes m’ont fait des promesses que cela va aboutir», susurre le diplomate guinéen.

En attendant, l’Ambassadeur nous a exhibé une lettre datant du 07 novembre 2007 demandant à sa banque de faire un virement de 22 000 livres pour payer les dettes de cette année. Lui, qui est visiblement fier d’avoir réussi à faire venir en Guinée un groupe d’investisseurs anglais notamment la Société MASSIE ECO Ltd., qui a déjà ouvert une Nouvelle Compagnie Aérienne de droit guinéen « Mano River Airlines », pour desservir à partir de janvier 2006 les pays de la sous-region et ouvrir une ligne régulière Freetown-Conakry-Londres. Lui qui s’enorgueillit d’avoir d’ambitieux projet de coopération avec l’Islande, un petit pays riche avec de solides expériences dans le domaine de la pêche qui peuvent profiter au Pays, sait qu’en sus de la chancellerie, les loyers de la résidence ne sont pas à jour. Et que n’eussent été les innombrables démarches de leurs amis, leurs Excellences l’Ambassadeur et l’Ambassadrice, auraient dormi, depuis belle lurette, à la belle étoile dans le froid hivernal londonien.

Depuis plus de 12 jours, les ghettos urbains des grandes villes de France sont le théâtre d’émeutes violentes qui embrasent les communautés issues de l’immigration arabe et ouest africaine. A ce jour, ce sont plus de 226 communes urbaines qui sont touchées, 1.173 véhicules brûlés (Photo de Flickr.com) et 330 interpellations ont eu lieu en France. Le gouvernement français ne semble pas pouvoir trouver les mesures d’apaisements malgré la déclaration de couvre feu dans les zones touchées.

Tout a commencé le 27 octobre 2005 avec la mort de 2 jeunes : Bouna Traoré et Zia Benna, âgés de 15 et 17 ans. Les jeunes mourront par électrocution alors qu’ils fuyaient les policiers à leur poursuite. Un troisième jeune sera grièvement blessé. Cet incident suivi de propos tenus par le ministre français de l’intérieur, lui-même immigré qui qualifiera les jeunes de « racailles » et de « gangrènes » qu’il faut « nettoyer au Kärcher » en référence d’un produit de nettoyage utilisé par les conciergeries des immeubles ghettos des banlieues françaises.

Cet incident mis feu à la poudrière que constituent les jeunes Français des ghettos frustrés par une discrimination systématique au logement et à l’emploi accumulés depuis des décennies et ignorés par le gouvernement français qui veut jouer à la politique de l’Autruche.

La banlieue parisienne de Clichy-sous-Bois s’embrasa et des batailles rangées entre la police et les jeunes suivies d’incendie de bâtiments et de voitures vont lancer plus de 10 jours d’émeutes dans les autres quartiers périphériques et villes de provinces face à un gouvernement paralysé et incertain sur la démarche à suivre.

La communauté guinéenne de Paris et de France, l’une des plus ancienne diaspora guinéenne en Europe est prise en tenaille entre une sympathie face aux revendications des émeutiers et une révulsion devant les dégâts matériels.

Interrogé au téléphone, Mr Lansana Touré, Chef du service d’insertion du Département du Val d’Oise très au courant des difficultés d’intégration des jeunes d’origine africaine déclare que « malgré les immenses efforts consentis par le gouvernement ces dernières années en faveur des banlieues, c’est un problème plus profond que celui rapporté par la presse. »

Selon Mr Touré, il y a beaucoup de jeunes dans les banlieues qui n’ont pas de supervisions parentales. Certains se sont organisés en gangs avec des jeunes parfois âgés de 13 ou 14 ans à peine. Le manque d’emplois rémunérateurs pour ces jeunes Français nés dans les années 80 qui n’ont pas poussé loin les études, le système d’écoles publiques les orientant tôt vers des voies sans issues, le manque de perspectives d’avenir et l’explosion d’une économie souterraine liée au trafic de drogue sont autant d’éléments qui ajoutent du fioul à la crise.

Autre facteur qui contribue à l’éclatement de la famille, sont les allocations sociales généreuses qui ont l’effet pervers de décourager la recherche d’emploi. Par exemple, l’allocation des parents isolés pour les mères célibataires de 762 Euros par mois pour trois ans encourage les grossesses hors mariage. Les familles nombreuses parfois polygames reçoivent des allocations supplémentaires allant jusqu’à 115 Euros par enfants et par mois. A cela s’ajoute en plus la gratuité des frais de transports et des soins médicaux. L’autorité parentale est aussi minée par les Lois de la Protection des Mineurs ce qui fait que les parents sont interdits de discipliner leurs enfants, comme cela se fait en Afrique, sous peine de se voir retirer leur progéniture par les services sociaux.

D’après Mr Touré, les Guinéens sont plutôt marginaux dans cette crise car la communauté guinéenne en France n’est pas aussi importante, comparée aux autres communautés. « Contrairement aux Maliens, Sénégalais et Maghrébins, les Guinéens ne font pas partie de la vague de villageois qui sont arrivés en France dans les années 60 pour faire les petits boulots des Français comme les éboueurs. Ces travailleurs ont recréé l’Afrique dans les Foyers d’Immigrés surpeuplés, sans espoir ni volonté d’intégration. Ils ont eu des enfants, alors que le gouvernement pensait que ces travailleurs retourneraient dans leur pays d’origine. Personne ne s’est soucié de leurs enfants qui sont nés et grandis en France et qui sont des Français»

L’immigration guinéenne en France se compose plutôt de deux vagues très différentes. Les Guinéens de la première vague, étaient plutôt des intellectuels qui fuyaient le régime dictatorial de la Révolution de Sékou Touré. Ils ont eu dans leur majorité de bons emplois, et ont généralement fait de bonnes carrières professionnelles. Par contre, vers la fin des années 70 et depuis les années 80, la nouvelle vague de Guinéens arrivée en France a eu toutes les peines d’intégration professionnelle et de régularisation de situation administrative.

Plusieurs autres Guinéens interrogés par Guinéenews© déclarent que le racisme pernicieux qui existe au sein de la société française frise l’hypocrisie. « En théorie, nous sommes tous des Français, mais en pratique, les descendants des immigrés qui ont contribué à reconstruire la France sont de vrais citoyens de deuxième classe. Dans l’emploi, dès que tu as un nom à consonance étrangère, tu as toutes les peines à trouver une entrevue ou un logement décent» clame Mohamed Bérété, arrivé en France à l’âge de 3 ans.

Le modèle d’intégration républicain à la Française qui décourage le communitarisme, en prend un sérieux coup. Mr Touré résume la chose « La seule bonne chose de cette aventure est que maintenant, on sera obligé de parler de l’échec de l’intégration des communautées issues de l’Afrique. Avant, on faisait la politique de l’Autruche. Mais c’est un débat qui doit exister car le problème existe ici et il faut bien l’affronter. »

Mr Ahmed Barry possédant la nationalité française, mais qui a préféré immigrer aux Etats-Unis après un bref séjour au Canada anglais résume le contraste entre les modèles anglo-saxons et français d’intégration. « Combien de ministres, préfets, maires noirs avez-vous en France? Même des présentateurs de télés ou des employés dans une banque? Très peu. Les Anglo-Saxons sont aussi racistes que les Français, mais au moins eux, sont moins hypocrites et ne cherchent pas à se voiler la face et dire que le problème n’existe pas. Imaginez vous un ministre des Affaires Etrangères noir en France comme Condoleeza Rice aux Etats-Unis ou un chef de l’Etat noir et immigré comme Mme Michaelle Jean au Canada? »

Pour Mr Barry, la France pourrait tirer les leçons du multiculturel anglosaxon où les identités raciales sont présentées comme un enrichissement et non comme quelque chose qu’il faut ignorer, oublier et nier l’existence même. «Je suis un Noir et cela fait partie de mon identité. C’est un fait que rien ne pourra changer. Pourquoi l’ignorer et me faire croire que je suis Français comme les autres. Ce n’est pas vrai. »

Pour Ibrahima Sidibé, un Guinéen habitant à Sarcelles en France, seulement depuis 3 ans et où de violents affrontements ont eu lieu, ce débat est le même que celui qui doit avoir lieu en Guinée : « En Guinée, c’est la même chose, on a un malaise ethnique. Si sur le papier nous sommes tous Guinéens, en réalité, tout le monde sait que dépendant de l’ethnie de celui qui est au pouvoir, les chances d'accès à l’emploi dans l’Administration, aux contrats, aux postes lucratifs ne sont pas les mêmes pour tous les Guinéens. Jusque là, la Guinée a eu de la chance, mais l’injustice crée toujours les ferments de la révolte. »

Bamako, Mali, 08/11 - Le président de la Fédération internationale des droits de l`homme (FIDH), Sidiki Kaba, a estimé lundi à Bamako que la Guinée est au bord d`une "crise politique majeure", invitant la communauté internationale à agir "pendant qu`il est encore temps d`éviter le pire" dans ce pays.

"Nous avons tous conscience que la Guinée se trouve à la veille d`une crise grave, crise du fait de l`absence de dialogue politique, de la confiscation des libertés politiques. Nous devons agir vite pour prévenir une guerre civile dans ce pays", a-t-il déclaré à la PANA.

S`exprimant en marge du Symposium international sur les pratiques de démocratie, des droits de l`homme et des libertés dans l`espace francophone, M. Kaba a invité l`Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) à rompre le silence sur la situation politique en Guinée.

"Nous souhaitons qu`une action rapide soit conduite par l`OIF pour prévenir une explosion programmée en Guinée", a dit le président de la FIDH.

"Les Etats doivent prendre dès maintenant leurs responsabilités. Nous sommes dans une situation où l`alerte précoce doit être déclenchée pour éviter d`avoir à gérer demain une crise dont il sera difficile de sortir", a-t-il ajouté.

M. Kaba a affirmé que la FIDH est disposée à contribuer à la réflexion sur la mise en place d`un mécanisme d`alerte précoce proposé par le secrétaire général de l`OIF, Abdou Diouf.

"Nous soutenons l`idée d`un renforcement de l`alerte précoce parce que nous croyons à son efficacité. Nous sommes au demeurant prêts à y contribuer à travers notre Observatoire qui peut facilement remonter des informations sur les cas graves de violations des droits de l`homme et de blocages politiques", a-t- il assuré.

L`OIF prévoit d`organiser en mai 2006 à Saint-Boniface, au Canada, une conférence ministérielle sur la sécurité humaine et la prévention des conflits.

Premier Novembre 2005 - Le rédacteur en chef de l’hebdomadaire « la Guinée Actuelle », Louis Espérant Célestin, vient d’être interpellé par la Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire (DST). Selon des confrères qui ont assisté à l’arrestation au siège même du journal de « la Guinée Actuelle », sept policiers de la DST en civil se seraient présentés avec une convocation en main. Le journaliste Célestin aurait demandé qu’il y répondra plus tard. Ce qui n’a pas été du goût des policiers qui, selon l’ordre reçu, devaient éconduire le rédacteur en chef. Puis ont suivi des altercations.

De force, il a été embarqué dans un pick-up V.A en compagnie de deux de ses collègues. Il se trouve actuellement dans les locaux de la direction de la police judiciaire de Conakry. Placé en garde à vue, Célestin a déclaré à Guinéenews© ‘’ne pas savoir les raisons de son arrestation.’’

La semaine dernière, il avait publié un article jugé diffamatoire à l’endroit du premier ministre, Cellou Dalein Diallo. Ledit article qui était une reprise d’un article publié sur un site Internet guinéen évoquait l’affaire de 2 millions d’Euros que le Premier ministre aurait reçu de la part de la Sonatel, une société sénégalaise de téléphonie mobile qui convoite la 4ème licence de GSM. Des journaux parus ce matin rapportent que «la Sonatel affirme n’avoir donné l’argent à qui que se soit.»

Dans le passé, ce confrère a eu des démêlées avec la police guinéenne pour délit de presse. Entre 1997 et 1998, quand il était rédacteur en chef du journal «L’œil du peuple », un autre hebdomadaire de la place, il a été expulsé deux fois vers la Côte d’Ivoire, son pays d’origine.

Yacine Bah et Youlaké Camara

CONAKRY, 31 October (IRIN) - Despite serious reservations, Guinea's main opposition coalition has said it will take part in December's municipal elections which are widely seen as a test of the country's democratic reform process.

"The (coalition) will participate in these elections while remaining convinced that there are no guarantees of fair play," Jean-Marie Dore, spokesman for the Republican Front for Democratic Change's (FRAD), told a press conference on Saturday.

"But we intend to show the international community that we are committed to helping our country go forward," he said.

The declaration that FRAD would present a united front in the upcoming elections followed nearly two weeks of internal debate about how much progress the government had made on democratic reforms that both the opposition and the international community have demanded.

Guinea has agreed to an extensive reform programme in order to lure back foreign donors who have been avoiding the West African country in recent years due to corruption and human rights abuses.

The opposition, which largely boycotted the 2002 parliamentary and 2003 presidential campaigns, has placed a similar set of preconditions on their re-engagement in the political process. These include the liberalisation of the media, greater freedoms for members of the opposition and the creation of an independent electoral commission.

Multi-party participation and credible election results -- Guinea's long-time ruling party in the past has routinely claimed over 90% of the vote -- are seen as essential to getting international aid flowing again.

And some observers point to recent pledges as proof that the process is working. The United Nations, the European Union and the United States have all announced contributions totalling more than US $3 million to help organise the municipal elections.

FRAD's willingness to participate in the ballot had been very much in doubt earlier this month when it dismissed the government's creation of an electoral commission, claiming it lacked the powers and independence necessary to ensure a fair and transparent vote.

Scepticism has remained even after Friday's swearing in of representatives from civil society, the government and other opposition parties to form the new electoral body.

FRAD, which is not represented in the commission, called it a step backwards and criticised the fact that the electoral chief was also in charge of similar bodies during the highly controversial campaigns of the past.

"Never in this country have election commissions done what they are supposed to do to hold free, fair and just elections," Chernor Maadjou Sowe, a human rights activist and one of the 22 new members of the electoral commission, told the press shortly after taking the oath of office.

"We will try with what is at our disposal but the moment we see that things are not headed towards a transparent and free election, we will quit."

The traditional absence of a satisfactory electoral commission played a major role in previous election boycotts. And Alpha Conde, leader of the Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) and one of the FRAD coalition's key figures, had initially announced in July that his party would not participate in the coming elections.

But a June report by the international think-tank Crisis Group, in which it warned that Guinea was on the verge of becoming West Africa's next failed state, called for the opposition to take part in elections which it said would be a barometer of the country's democracy.

"Rather than opting out at the first sign of repression, opposition parties must keep pushing, demanding that the government make good on its promises," the report said.

Guinea, where more than half the population lives on less than a dollar a day, has been ruled by Lansana Conte since he came to power in a 1984 coup. But his ill health and the lack of a clear successor in either the government or the opposition have led to worries that a dangerous power vacuum is looming.

In its report, Crisis Group said that disaster could only be averted if both the opposition and the international community engaged fully in the reform process, starting with these critical municipal elections.

"They will largely determine the quality of Guinean democracy. If they fail, the presidential succession will likely be disastrous."

vendredi, 28. octobre 2005 - Il est neuf heures et quelques dix minutes quand soudain un calme religieux s’empare du collectif du lycée aviation dans la commune de Matoto. Une vingtaine de lycéennes venaient de perdre connaissance à cause de la visite inopinée des génies amoureux qui continuent à draguer les belles lycéennes. La seule solution du problème aura été la métaphysique.

Ce n’est plus un phénomène qui surprend les responsables des lycées, collèges et les citoyens de la capitale. Depuis belle lurette, des cours sont généralement perturbés à cause de la présence de génies amoureux dans les lycées et collèges de la capitale. En 2004, c’était l’école primaire de Tombo qui enregistre le plus grand nombre de fille dans la commune de Kaloum, qui a reçu la visite surprise des génies amoureux. Cet établissement a été fermé pendant 48 heures pour apaiser l’ardeur des génies.

Tout comme au Lycée Tannerie qui, pour la première visite des génies amoureux, avait causé une frayeur et une panique indescriptible au sein des enseignants et collégiens. Interrogées, les filles reconnaissent que se sont de beaux jeunes hommes qui se présentent à elles et les invitent à les suivre. L’une d’entre les victimes n’a été retrouvée par ses parents que grâce à l’intervention d’un grand marabout.

En tout les cas, malgré les sacrifices offerts par les parents d’élèves ainsi que les lectures du Saint Coran, ces beaux séducteurs de génies amoureux continuent de traquer les belles filles dans les structures éducatives de la capitale

Mohamed Sylla
Correspondant r-kk á Conakry

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's opposition, which boycotted presidential polls in 2003, said on Thursday it would take part in the West African country's first local elections in a decade in December.

President Lansana Conte, who has ruled Guinea since a 1984 coup, said the country would hold elections on December 18 for mayors and rural councils, in the latest apparent concession to opposition demands for greater democracy.

"We have decided to take part in the elections this year in specific conditions," Jean-Marie Dore, spokesman for the Republic Front of Democratic Change (FRAD) coalition, told Reuters, adding an official announcement would be made on Saturday.

"Guinean law does not allow for common lists but we are going to organise ourselves so that each party will lead the opposition in the fief where it is dominant," Dore said.

If they go ahead, the local elections would be only the third such regional polls held since Conte, an ailing and reclusive diabetic in his 70s, allowed multi-party politics.

FRAD which accuses Conte of authoritarian rule and of rigging elections in the past, recently called for the president to resign immediately, calling him an obstacle to democracy.

Conte, who won disputed presidential elections in 1993 and 1998, escaped an assassination attempt in January and analysts fear his sudden departure could lead to a violent power struggle.

A change in the constitution allowed him to seek a third term and he won a landslide victory in 2003 after the opposition boycotted the poll saying it would not be fair.

Guinea opened the airwaves in August to private radio and television after 47 years of state monopoly, in a concession to opposition demands for great media freedom.

The former French colony contains around a third of the world's reserves of bauxite, the raw material used to make alumina.

Despite its mineral wealth, about half of Guinea's 8 million people survive on less than one dollar a day. Rising prices have sparked unrest in recent months in the capital Conakry.

CONAKRY, 24 October (IRIN) - More than 50 people were in custody on Monday following ethnic clashes in the troubled Forest Region of Guinea, an officer involved in the operation said.

Long-simmering tensions between the Guerze ethnic group, who are Christian and consider themselves to be the rightful inhabitants of the region, and Muslim Konianke settlers burst into the open in the main city Nzerekore on Wednesday, sparked by a row over a religious celebration.

Ten people were injured, two of them seriously, and several houses sacked in the Gonia neighbourhood, the town's mayor Cece Loua told IRIN.

Wednesday's violence erupted after Koniankes complained that the music from a Guerze baptism ceremony was disturbing prayers at a nearby mosque.

Soldiers from the elite intervention unit, known as rangers, deployed on the streets and fired off tear gas to restore calm. Several guns were seized and a curfew was imposed.

"We arrested about 100 people," said Joseph Millimono, a ranger who took part in the operation. "We have let some go but there are still 56 in custody."

Last week's clashes were not the first to have blown up in Nzerekore, which lies about 850 km from the capital Conakry in south-eastern Guinea, near the borders with Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire.

Aside from their religious differences, the two ethnic groups also backed opposing sides during the 14-year civil war in neighbouring Liberia.

Many of the Guerze sympathised with former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who belongs to their own ethnic group, while the Konianke tended to support their rebel kin.

Residents were roped into fighting for both sides, and aid workers say that although the militias have been disbanded, many of the youths still have their guns and are now idle and impatient.

The Guinean army arrested about 100 people and imposed a curfew on the southern city of Nzerekore late on Friday and yesterday following ethnic clashes this week when several people were injured, an official said. Soldiers were deployed in the streets after a video store was burnt down on Friday night, two days after two people were seriously injured in clashes between the Muslim Konian and Christian Guerze groups following a religious celebration. Nzerekore mayor Cece Loua said a fight broke out in the Gonia neighbourhood on Wednesday night and two houses were wrecked after several Konians challenged Guerzes, saying they were disturbed by the loud noise during their prayer time. "We have arrested about 100 people between yesterday and today, we are investigating to see who is really responsible for this situation," Loua told Reuters by telephone. "We have managed to restore calm."

Loua said no one was injured during Friday’s incident but said several guns had been seized. Witnesses said they had heard shots fired during the night. — Reuters

CONAKRY, 21 October (IRIN) - A bullet wound to his knee after a clandestine attempt to enter Europe, Abdourahamane Fadiga is back in his native Guinea after a gruelling year in the desert, but thinks of little other than trying again.

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's president, Lansana Conte, has decreed the country will hold its first local elections for 10 years in December, in the latest apparent concession to opposition demands for greater democracy.

"Voters are invited to hold polls to elect mayors and rural councils on Sunday, December 18, 2005," state television and radio said late Tuesday, citing a presidential decree.

If they go ahead, the local elections would be only the third such regional polls held since Conte, an ailing and reclusive diabetic in his 70s, allowed multi-party politics after seizing power in a 1984 coup.

But Guinea's opposition, which accuses Conte of authoritarian rule and of rigging elections in the past, gave a cautious reaction to the scheduled polls and said it would consider whether to take part.

"Nothing is decided yet," Jean Marie Dore, spokesman for the Republic Front for Democratic Change (FRAD) coalition, told Reuters. The coalition recently called for Conte to resign immediately, calling him an obstacle to democracy.

« Le bradage du Patrimoine National ou la honte de tout un Peuple devant l’histoire». Le trafic des rails du chemin de fer Conakry–Kankan, long de 622 km et construit depuis l’époque coloniale est malheureusement devenu une pratique réelle et lucrative dans notre pays malgré les dénonciations mais aussi les atteintes à l’image de la dignité de la République. Aimé Césaire n’ avait –il pas dit que la colonisation est un mal nécessaire ?

Et oui , longtemps , bien des gens ont tenté de le contredire . Aujourd’hui , la Guinée , après prés de 50 ans d’indépendance , n’arrive toujours pas à combler les esprits et attentes de ses populations . Au lieu de chercher à combler le déficit du transport qui ne passe plus inaperçu , bien de gens sont tentés aujourd’hui à développer en Guinée ce que l’on peut appeler ici le trafic illicite mais lucratif des chemins de fer Conakry – Niger ( Ckry – KK) . Incroyable , triste et sombre affaire dans la quelle des fils et filles de ce peuple censés de défendre ce patrimoine national , sont impliqués et agissent tout tranquillement.

Sans craindre d’être inquiétés ni par la loi , ni par l’histoire , ni même par leur patriotisme , ces individus bien protégés et hauts perchés de la société ont réussi à monter une filière de bradage du patrimoine national aux vues et aux sues de tout un peuple. ‘L’Angola’ , c’est le nom donné à la marchandise ( les rails ) par les hommes en tenue , passe sous leur nez en pleine journée et dans plusieurs véhicules remorques. Tous les jours que Dieu fait , à Conakry , les cinq dépôts de Matam , Nongo ( Conteya ) à Lambanji sont régulièrement fournis par des cargaisons sous forte escorte . Même tout récemment ,un camion remorque contenant des rails s’est renversé à Nongo plus précisément à quelques vingt mètres (20m) du pont.

Vous , vous poserez toute la question qui est l’auteur de tout ce trafic et , qui protége tout ce beau monde ?

Allez – y savoir . Retenez simplement que comme vous pourrez le constater vous mêmes sur nos routes , ces camions remorques sont flanqués de gardes bien armées qui protégent la fameuse marchandise ‘l’Angola ’ . Après un bref transit dans l’un des dépôts , elle est livrée à partir du port de Conakry en direction de l’Inde ou l’Europe avec la complicité des guinéens , hier sous la domination coloniale , qui dénonçaient et menaçaient .

Et retenez encore qu’une seule barre de 8m avec ses deux cent kilo grammes (200kg )est vendu en brousse à quinze mille francs guinéens (15000Fg) . Et de Kankan à Conakry , tout frais confondu , il revient à trente mille ( 30 000Fg) pour être liquidé au dépôt à cinquante mille fg ( 50000fg) . Alors à vos calculettes pour 20tonnes par camion et 10 remorques ( au minimum par jour) pour les cinq (5) dépôts de la capitale . C’est ce montant qu’on enlève au pays par jour illicitement et dans toute l’impunité .

Et à combien de dollars ces rails seront –ils vendus ?
Nous ne terminerons pas cet article sans attirer l’attention des autorités sur ce fait crapuleux qui risque de ternir dangereusement l’image de ce régime . Ils doivent prendre toutes les mesures pour ne pas que demain qu’on dise Ah ! c’est tel régime qui a bradé ce patrimoine national . Entre l’être et l’avoir , il conviendrait de choisir le premier surtout qu’ils à l’abris du besoin . A bon entendeur salut ! Affaire à suivre de prés………..

CONAKRY, October 13 -- Guinean President Lansana Conte has decided to set up an Independent Electoral National Commission (CENA), a permanent organ in charge of supervising elections for a five-year renewable period, official sources said Wednesday here.

According to a presidential decree, the CENA will be composed of seven members from the majority party and seven from the opposition parties, five from civil society and three from the administration. - angop

11-Oct-2005 - Selon le rapport mondial du développement humain (RMHD) 2005, présenté par le programme des nations unies pour le développement (PNUD) à Conakry ce lundi 10 octobre à Novotel, « l’indice de développement humain en Guinée s’élève à 0,466, contre 0,425 dans le rapport de 2004, soit un gain de 0,041 points. En comparaison avec les autres pays, le nouveau rapport classe la Guinée 156ème sur un total de 177, contre un classement au 160ème rang dans le précédent rapport, soit un gain de 4 points. »

Voici la quintessence du document que le premier ministre Cellou Dalein Diallo à la tête d’une forte délégation gouvernementale a reçu des mains de Mme Mbaranga Garasabwe, représentant résident du PNUD, coordonnateur du système des nations unies en Guinée.

Publié annuellement depuis 1990 pour approfondir et promouvoir le concept de développement humain, ce présent rapport suscite en Guinée beaucoup de commentaires dans les grands salons du pays. Les gens pour la plupart ne comprennent pas le paradoxe qui fait que la Guinée dépasse cette année des pays comme le Sénégal (157ème), le Nigeria (158ème), la Côte d’Ivoire (163ème), la Tanzanie (164ème), le Mali (174ème), la Sierra Léone (176ème) et le Niger (177ème) en queue de peloton de ce classement annuel.

Pour le RMDH 2005, le thème retenu est « la coopération internationale à la croisée des chemins : l’aide, le commerce dans un monde marqué par les inégalités ». Il s’inscrit surtout dans le cadre du suivi et de la promotion des objectifs du millénaire pour le développement (OMD). Un pacte entre les pays pour vaincre la pauvreté humaine.

En parcourant le rapport, on constate qu’en dépit des progrès accomplis à l’échelle mondiale, de nombreux pays s’éloignent des perspectives de réalisation des objectifs du millénaire à l’horizon 2015. Ainsi, si les tendances actuelles se confirment, il serait impossible de tenir les promesses faites aux pauvres, il y a cinq ans.

Aujourd’hui, les tendances montrent un écart considérable entre les OMD et les résultats projetés. Ce qui fait qu’actuellement, 50 pays avec 900 millions d’habitants enregistreront un recul par rapport au moins à un OMD. 24 de ces derniers seront situés en Afrique au sud du Sahara. Aussi, 65 pays non sans 1,2 milliards d’habitants ne pourront atteindre au moins un OMD avant 2040.

Plus loin, 800 millions de personnes vivant avec au moins d’un dollar par jour et 1,7 milliards de personnes avec moins de 2 dollars par jour en 2015. La part de l’Afrique sub-saharienne dans la pauvreté mesurée par le seuil d’un dollar par jour passera de 24 pour cent de nos jours à 41 pour cent en 2015. Des chiffres qui font peur vu que l’indice de développement humain (IDH) ne fait que régresser dans les pays pauvres en général et particulièrement en Guinée, un pays qui traverse des moments tout à fait difficile.

Cette amélioration relative à l’IDH en Guinée ne doit pas masquer le contexte économique et social difficile dans le pays de Lansana Conté. Cela sous l’effet conjugué du ralentissement de la croissance, de la baisse des financements extérieurs et la montée rapide de l’inflation ; les acquis des années passées étant sensiblement détériorés, notamment depuis 2003.

Si la crise actuelle devrait perdurer, la Guinée s’éloignerait de loin des perspectives de réalisation des OMD et des objectifs de réduction de la pauvreté. « En outre, le cercle vicieux de faible croissance économique et d’aggravation de la pauvreté pourront avoir des conséquences imprévisibles sur la paix sociale dans le pays », indique le rapport dans un passage.

Les guinéens comprendront à coup sûr ce présent classement du PNUD que certains qualifient de fantaisiste dans la mesure où l’IDH est calculée sur la base des données généralement vieilles d’au moins deux ans, comme l’indique le rapport. Ce la signifie que le rapport de 2005 traduit davantage la situation de 2003 que la réalité que vit actuellement les guinéens. Ce qui fait qu’on pourrait conclure que le pays marque certes des points, mais recule en réalité.

WHO has received reports of 7 cases and 4 deaths from yellow fever in the region of Fouta Djalon.

4 cases including 3 deaths have been reported in Mamou, a town of 236 000 inhabitants which grew around the railway line from Conakry [the capital] to Kankan. Mamou acts as an important transport hub in the country. These cases have been laboratory confirmed by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Yellow Fever, the Institut Pasteur, Dakar, Senegal.

In addition, 3 cases including 1 death have been reported from Dalaba, a city of 136 000 inhabitants, 50km from Mamou.

[Mamou is a different area than that of the outbreak posted in January 2005, but it is an area that suffered a YF outbreak in 2000-- see refs. below & map at:

Here is the full text of the presidential decree signed by the Guinean president, Gen Lansana Conte, on the liberalization of the airwaves in the republic of Guinea as was read on the radio on Saturday 20 August, 2005.

Decree 037D/2005/PRG/SGG on the conditions for the establishment and operation of radio and television stations in the Republic of Guinea.

In view of Law No 91/05/ CTRN of 23 December 1991 on the freedom of the press, radio, television and communication generally;

In view of Law No 91/06/CTRN of 23 December 1991 on the establishment of the National Council on Communication;

In view of Law No 95/018/CTRN of 18 May 1995 on regulating radio communications in the Republic of Guinea;

In view of Decrees No D/2004/010/PRG/SGG of 23 February 2004, No D/2004/017/PRG/SGG of 1 March 2004 and No D/2004/019/PRG/SGG of 8 March 2004 on the appointment of cabinet members;

In view of Decree No D/2004/081/PRG/SGG of 9 December 2004 on the appointment of a prime minister

Article 1: Every Guinean citizen enjoying his civic rights or every moral person of Guinean rights with the exception of political parties and religious organizations can establish, own, operate a private radio broadcasting station and or television broadcasting station in Guinea, within the respect of the legislative measures and regulations in force.

Article 2 : Private radio broadcasting station and television broadcasting station are meant to be understood in terms of the current decree as any station with a share capital owned in the majority by physical or moral persons with private rights and of which the broadcasts transmitted through the airwaves, cable or all other means are intended to be received directly by the public.

Article 3: Private radio and television broadcasting stations are classified into two categories: commercial stations; community stations.

Article 4: No private radio and television broadcasting station must directly or indirectly identify itself with any political party, religion, a region or an ethnic group. It must ensure that the broadcasts respect the dignity of the human person and the need for national unity and public order.

Article 5: Nobody can own more than one radio broadcasting station and/or television broadcasting station at a time.

Article 6: With the reserve of the benefit of an international pledge undertaken by the Republic of Guinea and comprising either a clause of assimilation to the national, or a clause of reciprocity in the area of the audiovisual, no foreigner can own directly or indirectly over 30 per cent of the share capital or voting rights in the audiovisual industry.

Article 7 : The permit for the establishment and operation of a private radio and television broadcasting station shall be issued by the Ministry of Information, on the advice of the National Council on Communication.

Article 8: The National Council on Communication shall exercise over these private radio or television broadcasting stations: a general right of control over their programmes; a right of protection and promotion of free, exact and complete information.

Article 9 : The private radio and television broadcasting stations can be asked to perform under the same conditions as the public media general interest services defined by the decision of the National Council on Communication._

Article 10: The private radio and television broadcasting stations can receive subventions from the state as well as from non- governmental organizations, NGOs. No private radio broadcasting station or television broadcasting station can directly or indirectly receive aid from a foreign country without prior permission from the government.

Article 11: Foreign radio and television broadcasting stations wishing to establish themselves in the Republic of Guinea shall sign an agreement for establishment with the Ministry of Information, acting on behalf of the government.

Article 12: The allocation of frequencies, their management and control are under the control of the Ministry of Telecommunications.

Article 13: The National Council on Communication can take, for the benefit of conserving, measures for the suspension of a radio or television broadcasting station for a period of seventy-two (72) hours or more in the event of an offence against the internal or external security of the state without running the risk of being pursued in court. The suspension and withdrawal of the permit are actionable before the Supreme Court in the event of the abuse of power.

Article 14: A decree by the Ministry of Information shall spell out the procedures for the issuance of the permits.

Article 15: The regulation of the annual licence fees and the tax applicable to the private radio or television broadcasting stations are fixed by a joint decree of the Ministries of Information and Telecommunications.

Article 16: The Ministry of Information, Ministry of Telecommunications, Ministry of Economy and Finances and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization are charged, each in what concerns it with the application of the current decree.

Article 17: The current decree, which takes effect from the date of its signature, shall be registered and published in the official gazette of the republic.

The World Health Organization reports the worst cholera epidemic in years is sweeping across West Africa. At least eight countries are affected. The health agency says it fears cholera will spread to other parts of Africa.

The World Health Organization says the cholera epidemic is particularly severe in Senegal with more than 24,000 reported cases and Guinea Bissau with nearly 16,500 cases.

WHO says the epidemic in Senegal began in January and peaked in March when many pilgrims came to the city of Touba. It says the disease spread quickly to other parts of the country.

WHO Global Cholera Coordinator, Claire-Lise Chaignat, says cholera declined in the summer, but resurfaced in the capital, Dakar, four weeks ago.

"We are facing a huge cholera outbreak in Dakar and this is mainly linked to the heavy rainy season that we have this year and the floods. So, we have over the last week for Senegal, we have 1,212 new cases occurring which is much more than if we see the last week and the first week of September, we had 709 cases," said Dr. Chaignat. "So, we see there is a clear trend of increasing of cholera cases occurring in Senegal now again."

Dr. Chaignat says she is afraid cholera will continue to increase in Senegal in the coming weeks because many pilgrims are likely to come to the country during Ramadan which begins in early October.

Cholera is spread through contaminated water and food. It thrives in poor communities with unsanitary conditions. Most cases of diarrhea caused by the disease can be adequately treated by giving a solution of oral rehydration salts. Antibiotics are given in the most severe cases. When treated quickly, WHO says the case-fatality rate can be kept to less than one percent.

Dr. Chaignat says Senegal, which has fairly good control programs in place, has a case fatality rate of just over one percent. In contrast, she says drought and locust-stricken Niger has just 431 cases of cholera, but a high death rate of 10 percent.

"Niger? They had in fact a bigger outbreak last year than this year," she said. "This year they do not have much cases compared to last year, but we are much concerned because of the humanitarian situation.

"That is why we are tracing it very closely to see that we can stop it," continued Dr. Chaignat. "And, that is why we have really tried, made a big effort to send enough cholera kits, to have enough supplies, to make a proper case management and to provide good information to the population and also to the health care staff."

Dr. Chaignat notes people who suffer from chronic food shortages, as they do in Niger, are more vulnerable to falling sick from diseases such as cholera.

While the cholera season is not yet over for West Africa, she says WHO is concerned that cholera soon will spread to the Horn of Africa and countries in southern Africa.

Dans une lettre adréssée au gouvernement guinéen et présentée récemment au premier ministre Cellou Dalein Diallo, la communauté guinéenne de New York s'est prononcée en faveur de la «réactivation» du ministère chargé des Guinéens de l’étranger.

Selon Amadou Sara Diallo, président de la communauté guinéenne de New York, la réactivation d’un tel département constitue un impératif du moment dans la mesure où cette réactivation permettra le retour et la réinsertion des Guinéens de l’étranger dans le processus du développement économique du pays.

Au lendemain de l’avènement de la deuxième république en 1984, le gouvernement guinéen avait institué un secrétariat chargé des Guinéens de l’étranger pour aider ces derniers à renouer avec le pays après 26 ans de dictature de Sékou Touré. Mais après deux ans d’exercice, ce secrétariat avait été supprimé sur insistance des faucons du régime actuel, en estimant que les Guinéens de l’étranger étaient des «réactionnaires et anti-progrès» qu’il fallait simplement «marginaliser?»

Le nombre de Guinéens vivant à l’étranger est estimé à plus de deux millions et ils apportent une contribution non négligeable à l’édification du pays. Mais les observateurs estiment que cette contribution pourrait doubler si une structure favorisant leur insertion était mise en place.

La communauté guinéenne de New York demande également au gouvernement guinéen de tout mettre en œuvre pour développer le tourisme et trouver une solution définitive aux problèmes d’eau et d’électricité qui ne sont plus un luxe mais «un superflu du temps moderne.»

In the first agreement of its kind in the Republic of Guinea, a public/private partnership pact has been signed between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Alumina. The New York-based company is making the largest foreign direct investment to date in the West African nation to build a refinery for processing bauxite into alumina for export to the world market.

A memorandum of understanding was initialed in Conakry on Thursday by Mbaranga Gasarabwe, the UNDP resident representative, and Global Alumina Senior Vice President Haskell Ward. The UN agency and the company plan to cooperate on economic projects that will contribute to the achievement in Guinea of the UN's Millennium Development Goals to halve extreme poverty in the world by 2015.

Guinea's people are among the world's poorest. The country ranks 156 out of 177 nations on UNDP's Human Development Index 2005, which incorporates life expectancy and educational attainment as well as standard of living. Ruled for more than two decades by former general Lansana Conte, who was elected president in 1993 and reelected in 1998 and 2003, Guinea has suffered from surrounding turmoil. Conflicts in neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone have spilled fighting, refugees and humanitarian emergencies into Guinea, which also borders Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Mali.

Yet Guinea has vast and largely unexploited mineral resources, including gold, diamonds, uranium and high-grade iron ore. The country is the world's second largest bauxite producer after Australia, with estimated reserves of 25 billion metric tons, accounting for a third of known world reserves. Guinea's bauxite supplies nearly 50 percent of the U.S. and Canadian import markets.

Since independence from France in 1958, the country has seen most of its bauxite output exported to foreign refineries. Near its mine at Fria, in the bauxite-rich northwest, Alumina Compagnie de Guinée operates a refinery with an output of one million metric tons per year, processing about 15 percent of the bauxite mined annually in the country. Refining bauxite increases the earnings of the producing country as much as ten fold, as does smelting alumina into finished aluminum products, a process done almost exclusively in developed countries.

The country's biggest bauxite mining operation is Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinea (CBG), owned 49 percent by the Guinea government and 51 percent by Halco, controlled by the world's two largest aluminum producers, Alcoa and Alcan. CBG accounts for some 80 percent of the country's foreign earnings. Last year, Halco announced plans to study the feasibility of building a 1.5 million metric-ton-per-year refinery in the country. The report is expected to be completed by the end of 2005. A joint venture between the government and Russki Alumina produces bauxite mainly for the Russian and Eastern European market.

Global Alumina's operational agreement was ratified unanimously by Guinea's National Assembly in May and endorsed by President Conté in July. The agreement grants the company a bauxite mining concession, the right to construct and operate the planned refinery, and access to existing road, rail and port facilities, as well as investment protections and other financial incentives. Construction of the 2.8 million metric-ton-per-annum refinery in Kamsar, about 200 miles north of Conakry, is expected to take three years for the first phase and another year for completion of a second processing line.

Global Alumina, which is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, is a signatory to the Global Compact, a United Nations effort initiated by Secretary General Kofi Annan "to challenge businesses around the world to take greater responsibility in society and act upon a set of universally recognized principles in the areas of human rights, labor rights and the environment."

The company's mission statement says the Global Alumina refinery "will assist Guinea to improve its citizens' quality of life by unlocking the country's most abundant and valuable natural resource" and will "enhance Guinea's transportation, communications, and other infrastructure while adhering to the highest world standards of environmental responsibility."

The September 22 memorandum signed by Global Alumina and UNDP designates four areas of cooperation - vocational training, support for business incubation facilities, small business development services and financing for micro and small enterprises. Global Alumina committed $75,000 for the first six months, "to be followed by other contributions as deemed necessary and feasible for the period 2006 - 2011". UNDP has agreed to provide at least $50,000 initially and to seek additional funding "as commensurable to its own resources and to the commitments made by Global Alumina".

Global Alumina's involvement in Guinea has been challenged by Alcan and Alcoa, who control most of the country's bauxite output through Halco's majority ownership of CBG. In March, however, Halco agreed to hold talks about supplying bauxite to Global Alumina's refinery. Last week, the government set an end-of-September deadline for a decision.

"Guinea remains firm in its desire to have Global Alumina operating on its territory," a senior official at the Ministry of Mines told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "If Halco does not react in time, the authorities will take the necessary measures," said the official, who provided no details on what actions were being considered.

Le jeudi 15 septembre, la Guinée a offert aux Etats-Unis une enveloppe de 500 mille dollars. Un montant destinés aux sinistrés de l’ouragan Katrina qui a frappé la Louisiane et la Nouvelle Orléans, le 29 août dernier. L’enveloppe a été remise à l’ambassadeur américain, Jackson Chester Mc Donald par une délégation gouvernementale, conduite par Fodé Bangoura, le ministre secrétaire général du gouvernement. Cette délégation était venue, dit-on, présenter les condoléances au gouvernement americain et de lui remettre ce don qu’elle qualifie de symbolique et modeste.

Comme par hasard, le même jour, les Etats-Unis par le biais d’un fonds mis à la disposition de son ambassade et géré par l’USAID, offre à la Guinée un montant de 128 mille dollars destinés aux micro projets. Et ces deux éléments, très significatifs pour l’opinion générale ont été diffusés successivement par la télévision nationale.

Au delà de l’acte diplomatique du gouvernement guinéen à l’endroit des victimes de Katrina, qui sont dans l’ensemble des Africains Américains, cette assistance de l’un des pays les plus pauvres du monde à la Nation la plus riche est perçue par l’opinion publique comme un geste ridicule voire hypocrite. Et les raisons avancées par les partisans de cette thèse sont multiples.

D’abord, le 22 août une pluie diluvienne a fait des ravages à Gaoual, une des localités les plus pauvres du pays faisant 496 cases, 72 greniers détruits, des mosquées et des centaines d’hectares de champs et de vergers détruits, des centaines de familles sans abris. La nouvelle a été diffusée par la radio nationale cinq jours après le sinistre. Et le gouvernement guinéen n’a apporté aucune assistance à ces sinistrés. C’est une ONG de la place ayant reçu un conteneur d’articles qui a volé au secours de victimes de cette pluie à Gaoual ce week end. Guinéenews© a été d''ailleurs sollicité pour une couverture médiatique de la remise de ce don à Gaoual.

Quelques jours au paravent, le Sénégal voisin a été frappé par des fortes pluies torrentielles ayant causé d’importants dégâts à Dakar où se trouve concentrée la plus forte colonie guinéenne à l’étranger. Là aussi, le gouvernement guinéen n’était pas prompt.

Un peu plus loin, les victimes de l’explosion de la poudrière de Camp Alpha Yaya Diallo du 2 mars 2001 attendent toujours d’être entièrement dédommagés. Car cet incident malheureux culpabilise l’Etat. Sous d’autres cieux, les citoyens victimes pouvaient intenter un procès contre l’Etat.

En tout cas, dans les rues de Conakry, ce don de la Guinée aux Etats Unis suscite nombre de commentaires. «On offre de l’argent aux américains au moment où on nous dit que par manque de devises, on ne peut pas avoir le carburant suffisant pour faire fonctionner les groupes de la centrale thermique de Tombo et fournir de l’électricité à la capitale, tous les jours baignée dans l’obscurité», nous fait remarquer un enseignant d’un collège de la capitale. Tandis qu’un confrère de la place affirme «qu’il serait mieux de leur apporter des produits locaux: le riz, l’huile rouge, les fruits ou les légumes». Enfin, un homme de la rue se demande où ils (les membres du gouvernement) ont-ils pris cette somme?

Une chose est sûre. Le gouvernement guinéen cherche à séduire de plus les américains. Depuis quelques temps, Washington ferme les yeux sur les dérapages du régime guinéen (déficit démocratique, violation de droits de l’homme, mal gouvernance etc...) et lui apporte une attention particulière. Dans son conflit contre Charles Taylor, Lansana Conté a bénéficié l’appui des américains. On connaît la suite. Un millier des militaires guinéens ont été formés par des instructeurs militaires américains. Tandis que Washington ouvrira dans quelques mois sa plus grande mission diplomatique de la sous région à Conakry. Le chantier, très avancé, est bâti sur les cendres de Kaporo Rail, ce vaste quartier démoli de force en 1998 dont certains anciens habitants cherchent l’agile politique aux Etats-Unis.

Comme pour dire que les Etats n’ont que des intérêts, mais pas d’amis.

En l'absence du premier ministre Cellou Dalein Diallo qui séjourne actuellement aux Etats Unis dans le cadre de la 60ème session des Nations Unies, c'est le ministre secrétaire général à la présidence de la république qui a conduit une forte délégation gouvernementale ce jeudi, pour cette remise.

El Hadj Fodé Bangoura a exprimé la compassion du gouvernement et du peuple guinéen face à cette catastrophe naturelle qui a fait près de 1000 victimes. Il a en outre salué la coopération Américaine qui ne cesse de s'accroître et de se diversifier avant de souhaiter que pareille catastrophe ne se reproduise plus.

Très ému du geste et de la démarche, l'ambassadeur Américain Jackson MC DONALD a affirmé que "la dimension de la délégation ministérielle et la contribution montrent que le peuple de Guinée et son président sont des personnes généreuses".

Il a promit de transmettre le message de la délégation guinéenne à son président Georges Bush Junior et de s'employer sans relâche au raffermissement des relations d'amitié entre son pays et le nôtre.

By Saliou Samb CONAKRY, Sept 13 (Reuters) - A Guinean opposition leader demanded on Tuesday that ailing President Lansana Conte resign immediately and said discontent with the veteran leader was rising in the military and the civil service.

"Dore and his comrades want everything, immediately. They are running out of cards since the depature of Conte is not and will not be a point for discussion," he said.

"How can you not help out?'

By Amy Lopez/ Teen correspondent
Monday, September 12, 2005

What would you do to fulfill a high school community service requirement? Go to Guinea to establish programs that could change the lives of the residents? Eighteen-year-old May Lan Dong did just that. ``I had been to Africa numerous times before I decided to research the economic problems that were obvious to people,'' she said. ``I wondered why this country was so poor.'' She wondered what she could do to help. Dong, who attends Buckingham Browne and Nichols school in Cambridge, was inspired by her mentor Bruce Wrobel, who owns Global Alumina. This company was building a hospital in Guinea. Dong took her first trip to Guinea to do research. ``I realized how much I wanted to work with women,'' she said. ``This country has such a lack of infrastructure and poverty.'' Guinea rated 181 out of 186 in the Human Development Index, according to the United Nations. Only 36 percent of the country is literate. ``It is so mind-blowing to see, how can you not help?'' she said.Fewer than half of Guinean women are educated. Dong has made it possible to build a women's dormitory at a college through investors and donations from friends, family and major corporations. She also helped build an orphanage where children ages 8-16 can take part in a three-year program to learn life and job skills. Many of the orphans' parents died from the AIDS epidemic. She wants to help with the AIDS epidemic in the future. The hardest thing is getting donations of books and sports equipment to the Sangaredi High school and women's dormitory in Guinea. ``Schools are in desperate need for math and science text books,'' she said.

Dong admits that the first time she visited Guinea she was disgusted by the sight of children playing in sewage, and homes that have electricity only a couple of times a week Dong, who also plays lacrosse and soccer, wants to study international relations in college and continue this work after she graduates. She raised $50,000 and distributed it throughout the schools and orphanage.

``The end result is the most rewarding,'' she said. ``Seeing the grateful looks on their faces, they know someone cares.''

CONAKRY, 12 September (IRIN) - In a strong show of unity, Guinea's opposition has called on ailing President Lansana Conte to step aside in favour of a government of national unity.

A demonstration against a local official turned violent in the northern Guinean town of Kouroussa on Thursday, leaving two people seriously injured.

The demonstrators were demanding to know the whereabouts of 150 million Guinea francs (US$40,000), funds that are handed out to the community each year as development assistance by a mining company operating in the area.

An angry crowd consisting mainly of youths marched toward the residence of Charles Andre Haba, the town prefect, or top government official, demanding he account for his handling of the money.

The injuries occurred when the prefect's guards opened fire on the protesters. State radio reported that two of the demonstrators were wounded as a result of gunshots to the head and abdomen.

The violence follows ethnic clashes at the end of July in nearby Kankan, which required the intervention of the military. With Guinea's seriously ill President Lansana Conte lacking a clear successor and the economy in dire straits, there are concerns the country could soon spiral out of control.

Following the incident, Haba accused supporters of the opposition Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) of being behind the demonstrations.

"It's political machinations on the part of the RPG, pure and simple," he told state news.

Kouroussa is a stronghold of the RPG whose leader, Alpha Conde, returned recently from two years in exile but has threatened to boycott municipal elections slated for later this year. The party's secretary general, however, denied the prefect's claim.

"The RPG cannot be held responsible for the prefect's follies," said Mohamed Diane, speaking to IRIN by phone.

"As a matter of fact, this is not the first time Haba has gotten himself entangled in the people's money, so blaming the RPG for this particular situation amounts to him trying to make a scapegoat out of my party."

In 2002, Haba was removed from office amid allegations of financial misdoings involving the same company. Following this clash, many local residents are asking how Haba found himself once again as prefect of Kouroussa.

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group recently warned that Guinea, a country where over half the population lives on less than a dollar a day, was at risk of becoming the next failed state in West Africa.

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

New York, August 30, 2005—President Lansana Conté signed a decree on August 20 allowing private broadcasting in Guinea, one of the last countries in Africa along with Zimbabwe and Eritrea to ban it.

The law, which had been held up for nearly 14 years, enables private citizens and organizations to broadcast but excludes political parties and religious movements.
"This is an important first step but the true test will be whether the government uses political criteria in granting licenses, and whether stations are allowed to broadcast freely," said Ann Cooper, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Local journalists attributed the lifting of the ban to pressure from donors, especially the European Union, and to a strong internal campaign.

Souleymane Diallo, veteran press freedom activist and editor of private newspaper Le Lynx, expressed concern about the continuing ban on political parties and religious groups owning broadcast outlets. Diallo noted that the legislation on press freedom had been passed in December 1991 but not implemented for private broadcasting.

Only a handful of private newspapers exist in the capital, Conakry. Few publish regularly and all are subject to government interference or censorship if they run articles critical of the government. Foreign-based publications such as the French news weekly Jeune Afrique L'Intelligent are occasionally seized by authorities and prevented from distributing if they carry articles on sensitive topics, such as the president's health - reputed to be bad - or persistent rumors of political instability.

Some local journalists fear that the government could again drag its feet on implementing the law, or use red tape to block license applications. Licenses have to be granted by the Ministry of Information, which must first seek the advice of the National Communications Council. Frequencies will then be awarded by the Ministry of Telecommunications.
However, CNC chairman Boubacar Yacine Diallo told CPJ stations could be operating by the end of the year.

MONROVIA, 1 August (IRIN) - The leaders of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone have publicly asked Nigeria to review the asylum deal which stands between former Liberian president Charles Taylor and a trial to face charges of crimes against humanity.

Conakry , Guinea ,07/28 - The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has donated $14 million to Guinea , officials at the ministry of co-operation in Conakry told PANA Wednesday.

Guinea`s minister of co-operation, El Hadj Habib Diallo and the outgoing USAID director, Annette Adams, signed the agreement for the grant that will be used to finance farming, health and good governance projects, among others.

Meanwhile, the US ambassador here, Jackson McDonald urged Guinean authorities to make good use of the grant. The envoy recalled a recent investigation by a local NGO, State View, which found that corruption had reached alarming proportions.

McDonald also expressed concern at the spread of HIV/AIDS, deforestation and bad governance.

A total of 6,000 young Guinean students have been awarded US scholarships as part of President George Bush`s anti-illiteracy initiative.

(AGP) Le Centre américain à Conakry a abrité mercredi 27 juillet dernier une conférence arabe pour établir entre la jeunesse musulmo-américaine, un pole de dialogue. Cette conférence a été animée par M. Ibrahima Daka Diallo, comptable de l’association mondiale des jeunes musulmans, assisté par M. Mohamed Lamine Diallo, l’Imam de la mosquée de l’université Gamal Abdel Nasser de Conakry.

Dans son exposé liminaire, le conférencier a indiqué que, c’est suite à l’attentat du 11 septembre 2001que ce magazine apolitique a été créé pour les lecteurs arabophones, en vue de permettre à la jeunesse musulmo-américaine, d’échanger leurs points de vue.

Selon, M. Diallo, ledit magazine a une rubrique intitulée «l’Amérique demande et vous répondez ». Cette rubrique sert de pont « du crible des questions réponses dont les spécialistes américaines répondent ». Parlant des exploits dudit magazine, le conférencier a rappelé qu’en juin 2004, dans la rubrique investigation, le magazine a révélé que malgré l’implication acerbe du Ministère Egyptien de la santé dans la lutte contre le tabac, qu’il y a eu 99 tonnes de tabac consommées par les égyptiens en 2004.

Dans la même lancée, il a également révélé qu’aujourd’hui, 42 millions de personnes sont atteintes par la pandémie du VIH/Sida. Toutefois, dira M. Diallo, depuis sa création en 2003, ledit magazine aura permis l’ouverture des musulmans au monde par le biais d’un mélange de cultures, tout en posant des problèmes et des suggestions.

Ainsi, soutient le conférencier, depuis son édition, ce magazine est lu dans 18 pays arabes, et il a réussi à se distinguer, obtenant à ce titre, 6 prix américains. Dans cette émergence, dira l’orateur, ledit magazine a créé un site Internet qui permet aujourd’hui, à plus de deux millions de jeunes musulmo-américains, de communiquer leurs points de vue sur divers aspects du dialogue.

es Etats unis viennent d’accorder 14 millions de dollars à la Guinée. En annonçant la bonne nouvelle au ministre de la coopération, Thierno Habib Diallo, l’ambassadeur des Etats unis en Guinée, Jackson Macdonald n’a pas mâché ses mots pour dénoncer la mauvaise gouvernance, et la corruption.

Pour l’ambassadeur des Etats unis en Guinée, l’indice de la corruption en Guinée est inquiétant. ‘’Si en 2001 la Guinée a répondu avec succès aux menaces externes avec les incursions rebelles, elle devra de la même façon répondre aujourd’hui aux menaces internes. Ce sont la corruption, la mauvaise gouvernance, le peu de respect qu’on accorde à la loi, le VIH/SIDA, la déforestation…’’ Selon lui, toutes ces menaces aggravent la pauvreté en Guinée. Le défit de la Guinée c’est aussi l’éducation et la formation de tous les citoyens et citoyennes afin qu’il ait une véritable amélioration de leurs conditions de vie socioéconomique et politique.

Il se félicitera de la volonté du gouvernement guinéen de libéraliser les ondes ‘’véritable indicateurs permettant de mesurer l’avancée démocratique d’un pays’’. Et d’ajouter : ‘’La libéralisation des ondes pourrait s’inscrire dans le cadre d’une stratégie de communication très agressive pour rehausser l’image de la Guinée, en vue d’attirer les financements et les investissements internationaux.

Thierno Habib Diallo, ministre de la Coopération, a pour sa part souligné : ‘’Le gouvernement est très sensible à ces nouveaux apports financiers dont la mise en œuvre, en s’intégrant dans la stratégie globale de réduction de la pauvreté, contribuera de manière significative au développement social de mon pays.’’ Il fera remarquer que ces apports s’ajoutent à bien d’autres d’un intérêt tout aussi grand pour la paix, la sécurité et la stabilité de la Guinée. Il a exprimé la détermination du gouvernement à prendre le bras du corps les problèmes de toute société en transition comme la notre rencontre : les progrès démocratiques, la bonne gouvernance, la lutte conte la corruption, le VIH/SIDA.

Conakry , Guinea , 07/27 - The 25th extraordinary session of the Board of Directors of the Mining Company of Dinguiraye (SMD), 800 km north of Conakry , decided to double its gold production beginning 2007, official sources told PANA Tuesday.

The Guinean minister of mining and geology, Dr Ahmed Tidiane Souaré and the president of the SMD Board of Directors, told a press conference that they decided to take the production of 100,000 ounces to 350,000 ounces in 2007.

The Norwegian company, Guinor, holds 85% of the shares, while the Guinean State controls 15% of the capital.

According to Dr Souaré, gold reserves in Guinea are estimated at 2.5 million ounces. He added that SMD has reacquired, with the contribution of Indonesia , a factory, which will soon be implanted in the gold extraction locality situated in Upper Guinea .

The president of the Board of Directors and its vice-president, Trygve Kroepelien suggest $150 million is needed to reach these goals.

Its extension will facilitate the creation of 1,200 contractual jobs and 500 permanent jobs.

SMD officials highlight that they cannot quantify the company`s contribution to the State budget, but have highlighted that export duties, royalties and taxes are invaluable contributions to Guinea`s public Treasurer.

La commission saoudienne pour la prêche en Afrique séjourne en Guinée depuis la fin de la semaine. Composée de médecins et de prédicateurs, elle a débuté ses travaux le samedi 23 juillet à la Grande Mosquée Fayçal de Conakry.

Cette caravane a été organisée par le ministère des Affaires islamiques en collaboration avec l’ambassade d’Arabie Saoudite et le ministère de la Santé. L’objectif de la mission est de donner une nouvelle vision de l’Islam dans le monde. En ce qui concerne notre pays, elle est la cinquième du genre.

Le ministre des Affaires islamiques, El hadj Abdourahmane Djoubaté s’est réjoui de cette initiative «qui vise à renforcer les relations entre les musulmans et de soigner l’image de l’Islam devant ceux qui prêtent des intentions diaboliques à cette région d’Allah».

Quant au ministre de la Santé, le Pr Amara Cissé, il a abondé dans le même sens. Aussi, il a eu à souligner l’autre intérêt que cette campagne revêt pour les populations: à savoir «leur apporter des soins spirituels et médicaux». Enfin, il a invité les musulmans de s’ouvrir à la modernisation. Un aspect qui donnera sans doute un nouveau visage à leur religion.

Les médecins vont faire des consultations gratuites et des interventions en ORL. Tandis que les prédicateurs vont donner des instructions en Islam pour les imams et les enseignants.

Cette équipe saoudienne continue ses travaux au Centre islamique de Donka, commune de Dixinn jusqu’au 5 août prochain.

The ICG report echoed the long-held fears of diplomats in West Africa that Guinea could collapse into civil strife once Conte dies or is forced to quit power.

Though Guinea boasts the world's third largest deposits of bauxite, the main source of aluminium, the majority of its people live on less than a dollar a day.

Hyperdynamics' SCS Corp. Requests Drilling Permit(s) for as Many as 4 Exploration Wells from the Republic of Guinea

Tuesday July 12, 8:01 am ET
Drilling Dates Range Between November 2005 Through December 2006

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 12, 2005--Hyperdynamics Corp. (AMEX:HDY - News) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary SCS Corp. has requested a drilling permit on June 27, 2005, for 4 separate locations offshore the Republic of Guinea, West Africa. The request will permit the Drilling of 4 exploratory wells in water depths ranging from 100 feet to 600 feet. The target zones will be between 1500 and 2800 meters. The permits request drilling date between November 2005 and December 2006.

When asked to comment, Neil Moore, president for SCS, stated, "There are two targets in shallow water that are primarily gas at a drilling depth of 1500 meters. There are also two targets in slightly deeper water at 2800 meters that are potentially both oil and gas . The oil and gas is of extreme interest to the country considering The Republic of Guinea has some of the
richest mineral deposits in the world but has no energy onshore. A major find of energy offshore would have a very positive impact on the people of Guinea." We look forward to this wonderful opportunity to play a part in the energy development of their country.

Hyperdynamics Corp. provides energy for the future by exploring and exploiting new sources of energy worldwide. The company's internationally active oil and gas subsidiary, SCS Corp., owns rights to explore and exploit significant acreage offshore West Africa. HYD Resources Corp. focuses on domestic production in proven areas.

Safe Harbor Statement: Statements contained herein that are not historical are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, detailed in the company's filings with the SEC.

Conakry - Guinean opposition leader Alpha Conde, who returned triumphant at the weekend from two years of exile, on Thursday issued his first public statement about the "sorry state of affairs" in the West African state.

"I feel sadness at the sorry state of affairs in our country, but that is the reality of a situation where the hoarding of assets results in the impoverishment of an ever-greater number of people, from all walks of life," Conde said in a declaration released to the media.

Conde returned on Sunday to a roar of approval from supporters of his Guinean People's Rally party amid an economic downturn and mounting reports about the failing health of President Lansana Conte.

"For myself, I refuse to be caught in the trap of regionalism and ethnic rivalries and to only see
political action through that flawed prism."'Guinea is considered a hotbed of potential
revolution'

Locked in a cycle of civil miscontent at higher prices on staple goods, an authoritarian government and continued exploitation of ethnic differences, Guinea could become West Africa's next failed state, according to the International Crisis Group think tank.

The southern forested region, on the border with war-torn Liberia, is considered a hotbed of potential revolution both in support of, and opposed to Conte, the target of a purported assassination attempt in January.

But according to Conde, who spent the last two years in voluntary exile in France after the president tweaked the constitution to allow him to stand for a third term, Guinea is not "doomed for all time to the misery that these days is suffered by most of the population".

"These days, the major division worth anything in our country is that which pits those who are wedded to power against those who demand change - and it is to them I address my solemn determination to devote everything I have for Guinea to turn back towards a course of change.

CONAKRY, July 4 (Reuters) - Thousands of people flocked to welcome Guinea's main opposition leader back home after two years in exile late on Sunday, as tensions run high in the West African country over soaring food and fuel prices.

Guinea is on edge over the failing health of its veteran President Lansana Conte, which has raised fears of a dangerous power vacuum. Rising prices for basic goods such as rice have increased the unease among its 8 million people.

Conte, a chain-smoking diabetic, seized power as a soldier in 1984 and has since brooked little dissent. The return of his main rival Alpha Conde, leader of the Guinea People's Rally (RPG) opposition group, from two years of self-imposed exile in Paris appeared to galvanise opposition supporters.

"Conde has been sent by God. Now he's here we hope that change will come," shouted one woman dressed in yellow, the party colours, among the throng at Conakry airport.

Conde did not address the crowd and has so far given no reasons for ending his exile and returning home.

Guinea was long seen as a bulwark against wars which raged in neighbours Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast, but looks increasingly vulnerable with a stumbling economy, rampant corruption and a powerful but fractured military.

"Conde is the largest by far of the vultures who have begun to gather around the ailing Conte regime," said Olly Owen, an Africa analyst at Global Insight, and economic and financial research group.

"Conde, like all of those aspiring to power in Guinea, knows that when the end of the Conte regime comes it will be swift and it will be vital to be present on the ground to secure a stake in events," he said.

Conde stood against Conte in Guinea's first multi-party presidential elections in 1993 but many
results from his ethnic Mandingo heartland in the east were cancelled by the government, allowing Conte to win easily.

He later spent two and a half years in detention -- accused of wanting to seize power by force -- after being arrested in December 1998 in the run-up to a presidential election in which he was again Conte's main challenger.

Increases in the cost of basic goods have contributed to several violent uprisings. Scores of youths with sticks and stones blocked traffic and burned tyres in the crumbling capital last Wednesday, some of them shouting "Down with Conte".

The official inflation rate is running at more than 30 percent. A 50-kg sack of local rice, which cost 26,000 Guinean francs last year (around $7), now costs nearly five times as much. The cost of fuel shot up 50 percent in May, with the government blaming a spike in international crude prices.

Residents said trucks carrying rice and escorted by gendarmes were attacked in three Conakry suburbs late on Friday, one of them Conde's traditional stronghold of Mafanco, although a fragile calm returned to the pot-holed city on Saturday. (Additional reporting by Nick Tattersall in Dakar)

CONAKRY, July 2 (Reuters) - Ailing Guinean president Lansana Conte's main political rival plans to return to the West African nation on Sunday after two years abroad, the opposition said, as tensions mount over soaring food and fuel prices.

Guinea is on edge over Conte's failing health, which has raised fears of a dangerous power vacuum, and rising prices for goods such as rice have increased the unease among its 8 million people, half of whom live on less than $1 a day.

Gunfire rang out in a Conakry suburb overnight as security forces shot into the air and fired teargas to disperse groups of youths attacking trucks carrying rice, residents said.

"They were brandishing machetes and set up barricades to stop the trucks getting through," said one witness who did not want to be named. "Some were arrested but released soon after."

Alpha Conde, leader of the Guinean People's Rally (RPG) main opposition party, would return "to an exceptional welcome" on Sunday, RPG executive secretary Mohamed Diane told Reuters.

Its people have only known two rulers since independence from France in 1958 -- Socialist
hardliner Sekou Toure and Conte, a soldier who seized power in 1984.

Independent think-tank Crisis Group said in a report last month the country, which holds a third of the world's known bauxite reserves as well as gold and diamonds, risked becoming a failed state unless political reforms were implemented.

Increases in the cost of basic goods have contributed to several violent uprisings. Scores of youths with sticks and stones blocked traffic and burned tyres in the crumbling capital on Wednesday, some of them shouting "Down with Conte".

The official inflation rate is running at more than 30 percent and a 50-kg sack of local rice, which cost 26,000 Guinean francs last year (around $7) now costs nearly five times as much. The cost of fuel shot up 50 percent in May, with the government blaming a spike in international crude prices.

Residents said trucks carrying rice and escorted by gendarmes were attacked in three Conakry suburbs overnight, one of them Conde's traditional stronghold of Mafanco.

A fragile calm returned on Saturday to the pot-holed city, where people rely on diesel and paraffin oil because of chronic power cuts, although armed police guarded some shops and the main market was quiet, residents said.

CONAKRY, June 29 (Reuters) - Scores of youths with sticks and stones blocked traffic and burned tyres in Guinea's capital on Wednesday in a protest at rising prices for basic goods such as rice in the impoverished West African nation, witnesses said.

Police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters, some of whom shouted "Down with (President Lansana) Conte", the witnesses said. Others threw stones at cars in the crumbling, pot-holed capital Conakry and several people were arrested.

Soaring oil prices and the depreciation of the Guinean franc have increased hardship for Guinea's 8 million people, around half of whom live on less than $1 a day.

The former French colony holds a third of the world's known bauxite reserves as well as gold and diamonds but has suffered from years of authoritarian rule and economic mismanagement.

Guinea is on edge because of Conte's failing health which has raised fears of a dangerous power vacuum in the country, long seen as a bulwark against wars raging in nearby states.

The official inflation rate is running at over 30 percent and a 50-kg sack of local rice, which cost 26,000 Guinean francs last year (around $7) now costs nearly five times as much at around 125,000 Guinean francs.

In May, Guinea raised fuel prices by more than 50 percent, saying the spike in international oil prices was to blame. The measure hit hard in a nation where people rely on diesel and illuminating paraffin oil because of chronic power cuts.

Across West Africa, food prices have been rising because of poor harvests due to last year's drought and locust invasion.

On Tuesday, Conte called on traders to cut the costs of basic goods, saying they were excessive. Last year, there were riots in several towns over a rise in the price of rice.

Making difficult lives worse, flash foods struck Conakry on Wednesday, killing one child and knocking down walls. Weather experts said it was the heaviest rainfall on June 28 since 1906.

Conakry, Guinea, 06/13 - West and Central African researchers, during a two-week mission recently, discovered in lower Guinea 100 cases of trypanosomiasis, the state-run Radio-Television Guinea (RTG) reported Saturday here.

The study, the first of its kind in the country, revealed that three million people living in the
mangrove areas of the country could be infected with the disease.

African specialists who worked on the issue said that the sleeping sickness had become an endemic disease in the country where the Guinea-World Health Organisation`s 2006- 2007 budget, which is to be finalised, is expected to deal with the screening and treatment of patients.

The budget will also provide funds to enhance the capacity of grassroots health workers and the means for further surveys aimed at detecting more cases.

Conakry, Guinea, 06/08 - Two journalists working for the Internet site Guineenews based in Canada were on Tuesday afternoon remanded in custody at the military barracks (PM3) here, police sources said here.

Youssouf Boundou Sylla, the residence coordinator of Guineenews and his reporter, Abdoulaye Youlake Camara, were being treated well at PM3 where dozens of other non-political prisoners have been awaiting trial for months, the police said.

According to the Guineenews editorial office, the two journalists were trying to contact Rene Caillot, President Lansana Conte`s French collaborator, for an interview.

Instead, they were in the evening summoned by Auguste Louis Leroy, the head of the press office at the State House, for interrogation.

The journalists were later taken to the army headquarters and then to the PM3, the editorial office explained

CALABAR, Nigeria -- Nigeria is coming under increasing pressure to expel ousted Liberian President Charles Taylor so that he can face trial in a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal, a move now supported by the United States.

Taylor, a former warlord, has been accused of backing rebels notorious for hacking off hands and arms in the 1991-2002 Sierra Leone civil war, allegations that Taylor denies. The U.N.-backed tribunal wants him out of Nigeria, where he's in exile, to face charges.

The U.N.-backed tribunal also accuses Taylor of violating his asylum agreement by meddling in the affairs of Liberia and its neighbors. Prosecutors accuse him of ties to al-Qaida.

Washington helped arrange Taylor's flight to Nigeria as rebels besieged his capital, Monrovia, in August 2003. Then, the world applauded Nigeria for granting Taylor asylum, saying that was the only way to bring peace to Liberia.

"We believe that justice will not be complete until Charles Taylor appears before the court to answer the charges against him and believe the time has come for this to happen," said Rudolph Stewart, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria.

He said that President Olusegun Obasanjo had not done enough by offering to hand Taylor over to Liberia, rather than the court in Sierra Leone. Taylor has been accused of backing the rebels in Sierra Leone's civil war.

The anti-Taylor chorus has heightened its pitch in recent months as the U.N.-backe d court, based in the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown, said it has new evidence showing Taylor was behind a January attempt to assassinate Guinea President Lansana Conte -- himself accused of backing the rebels that fought against Taylor.

After assassinating Conte, Taylor hoped to relocate to Guinea, where he is already forming a new rebel group, the court says.

Sierra Leone's government would be attacked next, and the war crimes court "disrupted," according to an internal document, which says all this is scheduled to take place by the time of Liberia's Oct. 11 presidential elections.

Sierra Leone for the first time last week called for Taylor to be handed to the war crimes tribunal. Until then, it had kept quiet so as not to be seen as trying to influence the court.

Taylor triggered Liberia's descent into violence when he launched an insurgency from neighboring Ivory Coast in 1989 -- hastening a cycle of violence across West Africa.

The peace deal under which Taylor left Liberia brought an end to 14 years of conflict, in which an estimated 250,000 died. The c ountry's fragile peace is now monitored by 15,000 U.N. troops.

Taylor vowed upon his departure to return to Liberia but Taylor's spokesman, Vaani Paasawe says a return to power is the last thing on the former ruler's mind and denied all the allegations.

"He has told me categorically, he does not want to be president," Paasawe said. "He would like to return to Liberia, certainly -- as a former president."

Paasawe also said Taylor would break a long media blackout and hold a press conference Aug. 11 -- two months to the day before elections in his homeland.

Nigerian presidential spokesman, Femi Fani-Kayode, said media interviews are not allowed under an unwritten as ylum agreement with Taylor, and that Taylor has not informed Nigerian authorities of the planned statement.

"He is being monitored very closely and we certainly won't tolerate a situation where he operates outside the conditions. If necessary, extra steps will be taken," said Fani-Kayode.

Taylor himself was unavailable to speak to The Associated Press during a recent attempt to visit him in the verdant southeastern Nigeria town of Calabar. The government has provided him with a cream-colored villa overlooking a winding river and forest as far as the eye can see.

Conakry, Guinea, 06/02 - The Guinean cabinet has adopted a draft decree authorising private radio and television stations in the country, an official statement said.

The meeting chaired by President Lansana Conte Tuesday, set the conditions for the operation of private radio and television stations, specifying that political parties and religious groups are barred from operating such stations.

Opposition parties in the Republican Front for Democratic Change (FRAD) coalition, have been demanding the liberalisation of the electronic media as a prerequisite for political dialogue in Guinea.

But the ruling Party of Unity and Progress (PUP) had opposed the media liberalisation, citing the negative role of Radio Mille Collines in the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

TORONTO (CP) - Global Alumina Corp. was cheering a vote Thursday by Guinea 's national assembly that clears the way for the Canadian-listed company to proceed with a $2.2 billion US alumina refinery project in the African country.

"The signing today really puts the implementation of this project completely back into our hands," Global Alumina chief executive Bruce Wrobel said Thursday from New York City .

The company is laying plans to raise $2.1 billion US on top of $180 million already raised since January 2004, with a sizeable portion of the additional money likely to come from Global Alumina's current Canadian institutional investors.

Of the money still to be raised, about $1.5 million will be debt and $600 million in equity, including roughly $200 million through a public offering, Global Alumina chief financial officer Michael Cella said Thursday in an interview.

"Canadian institutions represent on the order of 40 to 45 per cent of our shareholdings as of now. I'd expect many of those same investors to participate in the additional equity," Cella added.

Export Development Corp., a federal Crown corporation, is also a potential participant in the debt portion of the financing, he said.

"We're in discussions with them for the possibility of participating in the debt and I would imagine they would likely participate," Cella said.

The company has its legal head office in Saint John , N.B., and its shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. But its top executives are based in New York City and its main operations are in Guinea .

The central African country is home to about 30 per cent of the world's known supplies of bauxite, a mineral that is processed into alumina which, in turn, is a major material used for the production of aluminum metal.

On Thursday, Guinea 's national assembly unanimously ratified a plan for Global Alumina to build an alumina refinery in Boke , Guinea .

Under the basic agreement, Global Alumina received rights to design, build and maintain a 2.8-million-tonne per year alumina refinery as well as rights to a mining concession for the exploitation of bauxite.

Global Alumina also gets rights to use existing road, rail and port infrastructure and substantial investment protections and fiscal incentives, the company said.

An initial agreement was signed last October after months of talks but required ratification by the national assembly, which gives it the force of law, Wrobel said.

The CEO said there was only one significant change from what was signed last October, and that was the addition of $125 million in fixed tax payments over the first 15 years.

Global Alumina had originally negotiated a complete tax holiday but "we believe the project is robust enough to absorb the initial payments," Wrobel said.

The refinery will initially be designed to process eight million tonnes of bauxite a year and convert that into 2.8 million tonnes of alumina - equivalent to about five per cent of the world's current alumina market, he said.

First production is expected to start at the end of 2008, with full production by the end of 2009.

Global Alumina expects to have 5,000 construction workers on the project, which will include the refinery itself, access roads, camps for the workers and improvement for port infrastructure, Wrobel said.

On Wednesday, Global signed a memorandum of understanding to sell 25 per cent of the output from the proposed refinery to China Aluminium Group Ltd. China Aluminium will also invest in Global Alumina under the agreement, it added.

In April, the company announced a similar agreement with Dubai Aluminium Co. ensuring the long-term purchase and sale of 25 per cent of annual production from Global Alumina's proposed refinery and also purchase 25 per cent of its shares.

Cella, the company's chief financial officer, said Global Alumina has commitments for $100 million out of $2.2 billion that it plans to raise in 2005.

That's on top of $80 million raised last year in two private placements, one worth $50 million in January 2004 and $30 million in December 2004.

Global Alumina got its Canadian listing through a reverse takeover of PL Internet Inc., an Ontario-registered company, in March 2004.

" Canada has a very, very long and good history of resource investing and has exported that competence and interest to other markets," Cella said.

The company legally moved its head office to New Brunswick because the province doesn't require a majority of its directors to be resident in Canada .

The company has had no revenues from operations but derives some revenue from investment income.

In the most recent financial report, it reported a loss of $4 million or three cents per share for the three months ended March 31.

Shares in Global (TSX:GPC.U), which trade in U.S. dollars on the Toronto Stock Exchange, fell 10 cents to close at $1.35, a seven per cent decline with over 1.1 million shares exchanged.

CONAKRY, May 16 (Reuters) - Police in Guinea have captured five fugitive soldiers and are hunting for others after a jailbreak during which escapees shot into the air and robbed civilians at gunpoint, a police source said on Monday.

The sound of gunshots following the break-out on Sunday sowed panic in the capital Conakry, a city on edge over the failing health of veteran President Lansana Conte, whose illness has raised fears of a dangerous power vacuum in the country.

"We've managed to arrest five of the six soldiers who escaped," the source told Reuters.

"We're looking for the last one. He's a dangerous individual because he was part of a group of mutineers who were arrested in February 1996 after trying to overthrow the government," he said.

Mutinous soldiers shelled Conte's palace repeatedly in the coup attempt that started as a pay dispute. Conte was reportedly seized as he tried to flee but was later released after agreeing pay rises.

A military source who did not want to be named said the number of soldiers on the run from prison was higher, without giving any further details.

Conte, a diabetic chain-smoker, has ruled the former French colony since seizing power in a 1984 coup and there are fears his death may spark a violent scramble for power in a country whose military is deeply divided.

His health has deteriorated over the past two years and media reports that he is now slipping in and out of a coma have frayed tempers in Guinea, long a bulwark against civil wars raging in its West African neighbours.

Armed escapees drove civilians out of the Niger market in Conakry's centre after attempting to rob them following Sunday's jailbreak. Soldiers set up road blocks and searched cars, while witnesses reported gunfire near state television and radio.

Calm returned on Sunday afternoon to the crumbling, pot-holed coastal capital, where power cuts are so frequent people go to the well-lit airport car park to read at night.

The police source said three or four civilians, jailed for minor offences, had also escaped and were being sought. The source said those who broke out had stolen weapons from prison guards before escaping.

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Escaped prisoners sowed panic in Guinea's capital Conakry on Sunday, shooting in the air and robbing people in a market before security forces restored order, witnesses said.

People fled the Niger market in the center of Conakry, a city on edge as the deteriorating health of President Lansana Conte fuels fears of political unrest, as gunshots rang out.

Security Minister Ousmane Camara told state radio a number of people, including some soldiers, had escaped from Conakry's main jail. It was unclear how they had obtained weapons.

A Chinese restaurant worker and his driver said they had been attacked by five gunmen, two of them in military fatigues.

"They surrounded the car, they forced me to get out and told me to give them money and my mobile phone," Zhao Jun Gan told Reuters. He said he had been hit on the head with a rifle butt.

Other witnesses and military sources said there had been gunfire near state television and radio. Soldiers set up roadblocks and searched cars in the center of the city, where most government offices and the presidential palace are located.

"For the moment, we have been able to capture some of them and we are looking for the others who managed to escape," Camara said. "I am calling for people to remain calm."

Conte's health has been steadily worsening over the past two years, and media reports that he is now slipping in and out of coma have frayed tempers in Guinea, long seen as a bulwark against the civil wars ravaging its West African neighbors.

A diabetic chain-smoker, Conte has ruled the former French colony, which has one third of the world's reserves of bauxite, since he seized power in a coup in 1984.

Given the lack of an obvious successor, his illness has raised fears of a dangerous power vacuum in the nation of eight million. Conte survived a coup attempt in January.

Adding to the anxious mood was the government's decision on Friday to raise the price of fuel, diesel and paraffin oil for lighting -- basic goods in a country crippled by chronic power cuts -- by more than 50 percent.

Guinea, where half of the population live in severe poverty, was shaken by riots in several towns last year over a rise in the price of rice.

CONAKRY - Dozens of inmates, including soldiers held on state security charges for more than a year as well as common law prisoners, escaped from Guinea ’s main prison in the capital early on Sunday, police said.

A senior police officer, who asked not to be named, put the number of those who managed to get out of Conakry central prison in the “dozens”, without giving a precise figure, and added that security forces had been rushed out to try to catch them.

The soldiers who escaped included Lieutenant Misbaou Sow, who was among a group of at least 12 solders and civilians picked up in December 2003 and held in secret at a military garrison over unspecified state security offences against President Lansana Conte’s government.

Such men, who were transferred to the central prison on October 1 last year, got into a German-made limousine after the jailbreak and drove to the national radio station with plans to make a statement on the air, according to police sources.

However, the radio’s managing director was absent and the soldiers changed their minds, leaving the premises and abandoning the vehicle afterwards, the sources said.

Details were sketchy, but the prisoners got over a wall at the back of the jail between 10:00 and 11:00 am (GMT), and guards fired a few shots, causing panic at a market near the prison in the West African coastal city.

The officer said how they escaped and why the warders failed to respond fast was unclear. Police and soldiers have been deployed to the Kaloum peninsula, a mainly business district in Conakry where the jail is located. They were searching every vehicle on its way out of the district, he added.

The jailbreak came about two months after Conte, who has ruled with an iron fist since a 1984 military coup, ousted his security, foreign and mines ministers in a government reshuffle announced on March 9.

CONAKRY, May 14 (Reuters) - The government of Guinea has raised fuel prices by more than 50 percent, sparking anger and despair in a country where half of the population lives in abject poverty.

A statement read out on state media late on Friday said the price of fuel would go up to 3,800 Guinean francs per litre, or just over $1, from 2,500 francs.

Diesel and illuminating paraffin oil -- basic goods in a nation crippled by chronic power cuts -- rose to 3,600 Guinean francs from 2,300.

Long queues formed outside petrol stations on Friday night as people scrambled to fill up their tanks and containers before the new prices came into effect at 0000 GMT.

"After suffocating us for so long, the government now wants to kill us," said Mame Asta Bangoura, a widow who said she had been looking in vain to buy rice for two days for her family.

"I already found it hard to make ends meet, I don't know how my family will survive now," she said on Saturday, wandering in the capital Conakry's poor neighbourhood of Sans Fil.

The government said it was forced to put the prices up because of the spike in international oil prices.

But in a dirt-poor country reeling from decades of authoritarian rule and economic mismanagement despite its vast mineral wealth, few felt much sympathy for the authorities.

Last year, Guinea was shaken by riots in several towns over a rise in the price of rice.

"Instead of giving up some of their perks to help ordinary Guineans, our leaders ask us to make an effort. It is unacceptable to raise fuel prices like this," said a civil servant who asked not to be named.

Ailing President Lansana Conte has ruled the former French colony, which holds one third of the world's reserves of bauxite, since he seized power in a coup in 1984, succeeding dictator Sekou Toure.

However, his health has deteriorated rapidly in the past two years, raising fears of a power vacuum in the nation of 8 million, long seen as a bulwark against the civil wars ravaging its West African neighbours.

Conte, a diabetic chain smoker who is said to be slipping in and out of coma, survived a coup attempt in January.

On Saturday, the streets of Conakry -- where lengthy power cuts are very common -- were emptier than usual. Taxi drivers cruised in search of customers and market vendors could hardly hide their anxiety.

"Since this morning, I have had only one customer even though we haven't yet put our prices up. People are like petrified. It's a very difficult situation, we are in God's hands," said a woman selling goods at a market downtown.

NEW YORK, NY, May 09, 2005 — The Council on American-Islamic Relations is criticizing the FBI and immigration officials after the government said it would not charge two teenage girls-- who were labeled as potential suicide bombers and detained for six weeks --with plotting terrorist acts.

The council says the case suggests that the girls are victimes of discrimination on the basis of their religion and national origin.

One of the girls, an immigrant from Guinea who lives in East Harlem, was released. The other girl, a Queens resident, has been ordered to return to her native Bangladesh immediately, along with her parents.

The FBI has not commented on the cases which were largely dealt with in closed hearings.

2 May 2005 – Former Guinean Prime Minister François Lonseny Fall has been chosen to be United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative for Somalia, a UN spokesman said today.

Mr. Fall was educated at the University of Conakry and taught there in the Faculty of Law before joining his country’s foreign service in 1982 and serving in France, the United States, Nigeria and Egypt.

In 2000 he became Guinea’s Ambassador at the UN and was elected one of the Vice-Presidents of the fifty-fifth General Assembly. From 2002 to 2004 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and served as Prime Minister in 2004.

Le lundi 2 mai, sur les antennes de la Radio télévision guinéenne, un communiqué de la Banque centrale a été diffusé. Ce communiqué interdit aux «personnes non reconnues par la Banque Centrale d’exercer la vente et l’achat des devises sur toute l’étendue du territoire.» Les contrevenants à cette décision «s’exposeront à des sanctions» selon le communiqué et les cambistes qui ne possèdent pas de bureaux agréés ont été interdits de pratiquer cette profession. Désormais, les autorités exigent des cambistes de se faire agréer par le gouvernement et surtout de respecter le taux de change fixé par la Banque centrale. C’est ainsi que certains des cambistes qui ne sont pas en conformité avec ce nouveau règlement ont été pourchassés par la police ce matin du mardi. Ceux qui ont eu la malchance de tomber dans les filets de la police se plaignent d’avoir été dépouillés de leur argent. Un jeune homme du nom de Oury, souvent posté au bord de l’Avenue de la République, au cœur de Kaloum, une des cinq communes de la capitale, affirme à Guinéenews© avoir perdu la somme de 2.500 dollars US.

On se rappelle qu’en octobre dernier, la Banque Centrale de la République de Guinée (BCRG) avait décidé de réglementer le marché de devises en Guinée. Pour ce faire, elle s’était attaquée à l’organisation du marché parallèle, entretenu par des personnes privées, accusés d’ignorer les règles de la politique monétaire. A l’époque, beaucoup de ces cambistes se sont organisés pour créer des bureaux de change et de se faire enregistrer au niveau de l’autorité. Moyennant une caution. Mais, ce marché de devises reste toujours un lieu de confusion selon les critiques, un lieu où la loi de l’offre et de la demande n’est pas respectée. La pratique de cette profession dans les rues de Conakry, aux alentours de l’aéroport, des grands hôtels et aux principales artères de Kaloum où se trouve le cœur de la ville, a provoqué une véritable congestion.

Des observateurs estiment que les cambistes détiennent des devises dépassant le niveau des réserves en devises à la Banque centrale. Ce qui fait croire à nombre d’observateurs que ces cambistes «travaillent pour des gros bonnets de la place, et des hauts perchés du régime qui détournent les biens publics» selon ces critiques.

LAGOS, May 3 (Xinhuanet) -- The UN-backed War Crimes Court for Sierra Leone has implicated former Liberian president Charles Taylor in January's coup attempt against the government of Guinea.

According to reports reaching here Tuesday, the court's chief prosecutor, David Crane, said he had evidence that Taylor, who is now living in Nigeria, had ordered the assassination of Guinea President Lansana Conte.

The order is in "revenge for Conte's support of the LURD (Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy) rebel faction in Liberia," Crane said in a statement, citing "multiple sources."

"After the failed attempt to kill Conte on January 19, these same sources have reported that the effort will soon be repeated," Crane noted.

The prosecutor accused Taylor of remaining in contact with his political network in Liberia on a day-to-day basis and mobilizing them to keep West Africa in turmoil.

"Taylor will remain a menace to west Africa until he is turned over for trial to the special court for Sierra Leone," he said.

Taylor was forced to step down and flee his country in August 2003 as rebels laid siege to the Liberian capital, Monrovia. He was indicted by the UN-backed court on 17 counts of crimes against humanity for his role in supporting the Sierra Leonean civil war.

Despite efforts by Crane and other international powers to dislodge Taylor, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has repeatedly said he would not succumb to pressure to hand him over for trial.

Monday May 2, 11:02 am ET
New DHS Report Examines Female Genital Cutting in 16 Countries

CALVERTON, Md., May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Female genital cutting is on the decline in some areas, and practices are changing, according to a new report. Also known as female circumcision and female genital mutilation, female genital cutting (FGC) varies among ethnic groups and has been widely misunderstood, says the report.

"FGC is practiced in only about 25 countries in Africa and in some immigrant populations in Europe and North America. FGC is nearly universal in just a few countries like Egypt and Guinea. In other African countries, FGC prevalence varies from 5 to 75 percent of women," says Dr. Stan Yoder, author of the report,"Female Genital Cutting in the Demographic and Health Surveys: A Critical and Comparative Analysis," published by the MEASURE DHS project.

Comparisons of national surveys in several countries show marked changes in FGC practices over time. Younger women are less likely to be cut than older women in 9 of 16 countries studied, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and the Ivory Coast. There have been fewer changes, however, in the countries with the highest prevalence of FGC such as Egypt, Guinea, and Mali. Approval of FGC is decreasing in Egypt and other areas, suggesting that even in high- prevalence countries, individual perceptions are changing.

At the same time, the report documents an increasing trend toward the "medicalization" of FGC, as more girls are cut by medical professionals rather than by traditional practitioners. This trend is notable in Egypt where just over 61 percent of girls were cut by a medical professional in 2000 compared to 54 percent in 1995. The same trend is visible in Mail and Guinea, both countries with very high FGC prevalence. In many countries, girls are being cut at younger ages, even as the overall proportion of girls who are circumcised decreases.

"FGC varies enormously in the time and the way it is performed," says Dr. Yoder. "Practices range from a symbolic tiny cut on the clitoris to the partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia and partial closure of the vaginal area (infibulation)." In some countries, like Egypt, FGC is an ancient practice, predating Islam; in some parts of West Africa, on the other hand, the practice of FGC began in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Long considered the "gold standard" survey for measuring variables related to population, nutrition, and health issues, MEASURE DHS helps developing countries collect demographic and health survey (DHS) data by conducting individual interviews in peoples' homes. The DHS first added questions on FGC in 1989.

MEASURE DHS has helped conduct over 200 surveys in more than 70 countries worldwide. MEASURE DHS is implemented by Macro International Inc., an Opinion Research Corporation company (ORC Macro).

It was well past midnight when he decided to travel to Conakry, from his
native village Wawa where he has lived in seclusion for the past three
years. Drivers, security guards and a throng of assistants jumped to their
feet, rushing to car. In a matter of minutes, the convoy was on its way to
the capital city. The sirens roared through the jungle, swallowing the 75
miles that separate Conakry and his hometown. President Lansana Conteh,
the man who seized power in Guinea twenty years ago cannot sit still for
long but he can't walk around either. He can't sleep at night and he has
to move around. His 4-wheel driver The Armada Pathfinder has become his
new office, bedroom and wheel chair. To get up and go, the president needs
nothing but his toothbrush, his pack of Marlboro and a small comb he runs
through his sparse hair.

Since December 2002, when he fell off while trying to walk around the
Ka'aba in Mecca during pilgrimage at Islam's holy place, Lansana Conteh
can no longer disguise nor hide the deadly diabetes that is eating him up.
He is a dying man, slowly wasting away, sometimes remaining unconscious
for hours and becoming so forgetful that just a few weeks ago, he could
not remember the name of his wife, First lady Henriette Conteh who could
not stop her tears.

President Conteh has not been into his office in Conakry for many months.
He has not attended any significant meeting in almost a year. He can no
longer read and he hardly remembers anything people tell him. At times, he
makes visitors repeat what they are telling so many times that it becomes
almost comical. His only contacts with official government business are
reduced to sporadic meetings with Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo who,
accordingly to rumors, only comes to Wawa to ascertain that the President
is still alive. The other two visitors from the government are Kerfala
Camara, the head of the military and his deputy, Arafan Camara, both
charged with the ultimate responsibility of keeping the soldiers in check.

President Conteh is dying slowly. He no longer runs the country. Guinea is
now a land where everything is for a grab. An end of the regime mentality
has set in. The many fractions around the president are engaged in a war
over who gets what when the "chief passes away." Meanwhile, the country
is slowly descending into lawlessness, corruption and human rights abuses
going on unchecked.

"The military is prepared for any eventuality," said a security advisor
to the president. In other words, just as it occurred some twenty years
when President Sekou Touré passed away in a Cleveland Hospital, the
military might step in to take over. But the Guinea of Lansana Conteh is
different from the one left behind by Sekou Touré. There is a political
opposition that has grown bolder and hungrier with the years and would not
allow the military an easy takeover, as did Conteh on April 3, 1984. On
more than one occasions, armed men have attempted to destabilize Guinea,
coming in from Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia.

Each of those attempts were blamed on former Liberian rebel leader Charles
Taylor, including the recent assassination attempt on President Conteh's
life a few months ago. In the immediate entourage of the sick and dying
president, the lines are clearly drawn in the sand between the two most
prominent persons in the households, the two First ladies, Henriette
Conteh and former Miss Guinea Kadiatou Seth Conteh, with their family
members juggling for control. The rivalry between the presidential wifes
pales compared to the war of influence amongst the various political
clans. The king is dying and nobody is in command and nobody knows what
would happen.

Poverty-stricken Guineans hold their breath as day after day, news of the
death and "resurrection" of the president travels through rumor mills.
The last time the President had an acute diabetic attack he went into coma
for some 5 hours and many thought he would not "wake up" again.

What would happen in Guinea when Conteh passes? How would the military
react? What would the opposition do? What would the downtrodden and
impoverished Guineans accept as a transition?

The international community, particularly France in Cote d^ÒIvoire, the US
and Nigeria in Liberia and Great Britain and Nigeria in Sierra Leone made
tremendous investments in securing peace in those countries shaken by political instability in the past 20 years. A political breakdown in
Guinea could severely impact the fragile peace process in any of those
nations that share long borders with the land of Conteh. Guinea played a
pivotal role in weakening and ultimately removing Charles Taylor from
power in Liberia and bringing an end to the RUF war in Sierra Leone
through its support to ULIMO in the 1990s and later to LURD. If Guinea
were to tumble, these same fighters now disarmed in Liberia and Cote
d^ÒIvoire could fall prey to any new warlord wishing to take advantage of
the general discontent and the power vacuum in Guinea.

The Liberian warring factions, both ULIMO and LURD have developed strong
political ties with certain elements in Guinea that have helped them to
recruit and train fighters on Guinean soil. These ties with certain
"unsavory" members of the military were so evident that both leaders of
ULIMO and LURD were later asked by Lansana Conteh to leave Guinea. ULIMO
and LURD fighters were mostly recruited amongst the Mandingoes, who have
held the short end of the stick throughout the Conteh regime and may sit
by idly while another Sosou "king" takes over.

There is a clear and present danger developing in Guinea. The enormous
sacrifices of the past many years to secure peace and stability could be
required again if Guinea were to implode after Conteh passes away. There
is no clear line of succession and there is no institutional readiness to
create conditions for a smooth transition.

The situation calls for immediate attention and action on the part of the
international community. The UN, the AU and ECOWAS need to start working
immediately to ensure that there is no breakdown in this volatile and
dangerous situation, with another regional disaster as a consequence.

There is no better time to test the conflict prevention mechanisms that
the UN, the AU and ECOWAS have been developing over the years. They should
not wait for refugees and child soldiers to surface again before looking
for special envoys and peacekeepers and organizing peace talks. There is
little time left. The notion of "sovereignty" cannot be prevail when the
consequences of things falling apart would affect the entire region.

Concord Times (Freetown)
April 14, 2005
Posted to the web April 14, 2005
Ibrahim Seibureh
Freetown

US-based human rights group, Human Rights Watch has indicated in its latest report that child veterans who fought in the civil conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia are currently being recruited to fight new conflicts across the region and to eventually invade Guinea.

"Fighters have been moving freely between conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast and war will continue to be seen as an economic opportunity unless alternatives are provided because poverty is forcing thousands of child combatants to become mercenaries," the report said, adding that many of the migrant fighters began their military careers as child soldiers abducted to fight in wars.

"New governments in these countries are said to have failed to correct many of the problems that had fuelled the original conflicts including inequity, weak law and order," it says and adds more than two-thirds of former combatants from Liberia interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they had received offers to fight in Guinea and the Ivory Coast within the last year.

DAKAR, 28 March (IRIN) - A new sentinel survey of pregnant women who underwent voluntary AIDS testing in maternity clincs, indicates that 4.3 percent of Guinea's adult population is infected with HIV.

That represents a big jump from the figure of 2.8 percent suggested by the previous sentinel survey carried out in 2001.

The new survey was conducted last year by the government's National Council for Fighting AIDS (CNLS) and the German aid agency GTZ. It was funded by the World Bank.

The results have not yet been officially published, but they were made available to IRIN.

The survey was based on the testing of 4,525 pregnant women at maternity clinics in the capital Conakry and the provincial towns of Mamou, Labe, Kankan and Nzerekore.

Health workers in Guinea told IRIN that it showed a big fluctuation in HIV prevalence rates between different parts of the West African country.

While infection rates were generally higher in the main towns, they reached a peak of over 13 percent in the rural area around the southeastern town of Nzerekore, they noted.

This area is packed with refugees from Liberia, and Guinean migrants who returned from nearby Cote d'Ivoire following the outbreak of civil war there in 2002.

In the town of Nzerekore itself, the HIV prevalence rate was much lower, but still well above the national average, at 7.4 percent.

GTZ has meanwhile revealed plans to provide comprehensive treatment, including the supply of antiretroviral drugs, to 700 people at three provincial treatment centres in central and western Guinea.

Doctor Aissatou Dieng, an official of GTZ's AIDS control programme in Guinea, told IRIN by e-mail that the new patients would be taken on at clinics in Mamou, Labe and Faranah.

GTZ launched an ARV treatment programme in Guinea in 2003. It currently supplies the life-enhancing drugs to 53 people in Mamou, 215 km northeast of Conakry.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Belgium meanwhile provides antiretroviral treatment for 105 people in Conakry and Guekedou, a town in southern Guinea close to the border with Sierra Leone and Liberia.

However, these intitiatives still only scratch the surface of the problem in this country of eight million people

Irin News Service, the United Nations humanitarian news and information service, has recently published an article on their website that provides some information about the current situation in Guinea.