CONAKRY — The colonel behind a putsch in Guinea
promised investors on Monday that business deals would not be affected by the
country's latest coup and vowed to form a "government of national
union" to oversee a political transition.
اضافة اعلان
In a speech the day after his men arrested the 83-year-old
president, opening a new chapter in Guinea's long history of turmoil, Col.
Mamady Doumbouya also declared there would be no "witch hunt" against
members of the former government.
Doumbouya, with an eye to the mining industry that is the
backbone of the economy, said "activities in the country are continuing as
normal."
Guinea will "uphold all its undertakings (and) mining
agreements," he promised, stressing "its commitment to give favorable
treatment to foreign investment in the country."
Doumbouya was wearing a military uniform as he addressed
former ministers and institutional leaders who had been summoned to hear him
speak.
He also said "a consultation" would be launched
that would "set down the broad parameters" of political transition.
"A government of national union will be established to
steer the transition," he said, but gave no details about how long the
consultation or the handover would last.
On Sunday, Doumbouya's special forces arrested President
Alpha Conde, a former champion of democracy facing mounting anger for
sidestepping constitutional limits on presidential tenure.
Within hours, the military declared they were scrapping the
contested constitution, imposed a curfew, dissolved the government and replaced
top governors and other senior administrators with the military.
Public discontent had been brewing for months over a
flatlining COVID-hit economy and the leadership of Conde, who became Guinea's
first democratically elected
president in 2010.
Five years later, he was reelected — but in 2020 he sparked
fury after ramming through changes to the constitution enabling him to serve a
two-term limit.
Doumbouya appeared on public television on Sunday draped in
the national flag, accusing the government of "endemic corruption"
and the "trampling of citizens' rights".
An umbrella group called the FNDC, which led protests
against Conde's constitutional changes, said imprisoned members would be freed
on Monday.
A video sent to AFP by the putschists on Sunday showed Conde
sitting on a sofa surrounded by troops.
Wearing a rumpled shirt and jeans, he refused to answer a
question from a soldier about whether he had been mistreated.
Troubled nation
Guinea's 13 million people are among the poorest in the
world even though their country is a treasure trove of minerals from bauxite
and iron ore to gold and diamonds.
It has rarely known stability since declaring independence
from France in 1958, and bloody repression is entrenched.
Conde was accused of following that same path towards
authoritarianism in the final years of his rule.
Dozens of people were killed during demonstrations against
his bid for a third term and hundreds more were arrested.
He was proclaimed president last year after elections that
his main challenger Cellou Dalein Diallo and other opposition figures denounced
as a sham.
The latest turbulence erupted on Sunday morning, when
gunfire broke out in the center of Conakry. For several hours, the situation
was unclear, as the government said an attack on the presidential palace had
been "repulsed".
There has been no official account of any casualties and
there was no report of any major incident during the night.
The end of Conde's regime triggered jubilation in some parts
of Conakry, especially in pro-opposition districts.
The junta on Sunday said that land and air borders had been
closed, but on Monday it said air frontiers had been reopened.
Conakry, usually a bustling city, awoke in calm on Monday
and many shops were closed.
The meeting at parliament took place under a huge awning
pitched in the assembly grounds.
Hundreds of people clutched onto the railings, many of them
shouting "freedom, freedom" and "long live the army".
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