Armed gangs roam streets of Guinea

Armed gangs roam streets of Guinea

	Published : Mon, 12 Feb 2007 21:03 By : Agencies Print this Story

(AP) - CONAKRY, Guinea -- Gangs of machete-wielding youths roamed the streets of Guinea's capital on Monday amid sporadic gunfire, as the West African country's largest trade unions began a new strike to demand the longtime president step down.

At least 20 people have died over days of rioting that first broke out Saturday following President Lansana Conte's appointment of a close ally from his Cabinet as prime minister. The move angered many who said he sidestepped a power-sharing agreement by naming a confidant.

On Monday, residents reported hearing gunshots at the Alpha Yaya military base on the outskirts of the city, and smoke -- possibly from barricades of burning tires -- rose over parts of Conakry.

Groups of youths armed with machetes and sabers marched in suburban streets, shouting for change in protests that were broadcast by Guinea's FM Liberty radio station. Security forces blocked roads leading into the center of Conakry, where the government is based.

No flights have landed or taken off at Conakry's airport since Saturday, an airport official said.

The tumult followed calls by unions for people to take to the streets and demand that Conte resign.

At least 11 people died in Saturday's violence, according to medical officials and witnesses. Leaders of the political opposition put Saturday's figure at more than 30.

Nine more bodies of people killed by gunfire were brought to Conakry's main morgue Monday, said Ousmane Bah, the director of the city's Donka hospital. It was not immediately clear when they had been killed.

The president of Guinea's national assembly called for union and community leaders to return to negotiations with the government, according to a statement read on FM Liberty.

The station switched to music broadcasts from news during the day after a raid by government forces.

'They broke our console, took our microphones and computers,' said journalist Ibrahima Diallo. The station's chief and a technician were arrested, he said.

Last month, a two-week national strike brought Guinea to an economic standstill and quickly spiraled into violence as protesters clashed with security forces. At least 59 people were killed in that unrest.

Union leaders called off that strike after Conte agreed to appoint a consensus prime minister who was not a current member of his government. The post had been left vacant since Conte fired Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo in April.

Conte, who seized power in a 1984 coup, named Eugene Camara, a Cabinet member since 1997, to the post on Friday. Camara served most recently as minister for presidential affairs.

The next day, protesters took to the streets, throwing rocks and ransacking government buildings. Security forces fired into the crowds.

Looters tore through a number of buildings, including government offices and the homes of diplomats, over the weekend. A villa owned by the president of neighboring Guinea-Bissau was also emptied, said one witness, Ovid Kourouma.

On Monday, government buildings and shops were closed in the city center and suburbs of the capital.

In calling for a new strike, union leaders said they would settle for nothing less than Conte's exit from power.

'We don't recognize this prime minister, and anyway, it is no longer a question of the prime minister,' said Ibrahima Fofana, secretary-general of the Guinea Workers Union, one of two groups that led last month's strike. 'We are asking for the departure, pure and simple, of President Lansana Conte.'

Reflecting the worsening situation, a spokesman for the political opposition, Ba Mamadou, said local communities needed to form crisis committees to demand that the military help secure areas that have been overrun by the gangs of teenagers.

'Hooligans have taken control in a number of neighborhoods of the capital,' Mamadou said.

Guinea's 10 million people are impoverished and many live without the most basic public services, even though the country has half the world's reserves of bauxite, a material used to produce aluminum.

Opposition leaders have also called for Conte to step down, saying the ailing president has let corruption overrun Guinea as people struggle to meet basic needs.

Conte is reportedly suffering from a heart condition and diabetes, and has repeatedly traveled to Europe for treatment.