Guinea opposition names candidate for prime minister

PressTV

Jean-Marie Dore has been named by Guinea's coalition of political and civil society groups as the new candidate for prime minister on Monday.

"Jean-Marie Dore has been chosen on the basis of the criteria we listed at a meeting attended by representatives of political parties and social groups," said opposition figure Etienne Soropogui.

Dore, who is from a small ethnic group in Guinea's Forestiere region, leads the Union for the Progress of Guinea.

Dore's candidacy has to be approved by Guinea's interim junta chief Sekouba Konate.

Once endorsed, Dore will lead a long awaited transitional government to democratic elections and end the violence and instability that has rocked the west African nation since Cap. Moussa Dadis Camara's military take over in December 2008.

Camara's reign has been marred by massacre and crimes against humanity. On September 28, 150 people were killed and hundreds of women and girls were raped and sexually mutilated at an opposition rally in Conakry.

Camara, has been outside Guinea since December 3, when he was flown to Morocco to receive medical treatment following a failed assassination attempt.

During his absence, some members of the international community urged Cap. Camara to refrain from returning to Guinea, fearing that his comeback would sink the country into a civil war.

Guinea accuses French government of coup d'etat attempt

Paris - The junta in Guinea has accused French secret services of complicity in the attempt on the life of its chief, Captain Moussa 'Dadis' Camara, and of trying to overthrow the government, RFI radio reported Wednesday. "This was not an assassination attempt, it was a coup d'etat," junta spokesman Idrissa Cherif told RFI. He said some people detained after the December 3 shooting of Camara said they were encouraged to take action by French intelligence agents.

Cherif also accused French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of helping to prepare the alleged coup through a meeting with Guinean opposition figure Alpha Conde.

A French Foreign Ministry spokesman "energetically denied" what he referred to as "absurd rumors" about French involvement in the assassination attempt.

Camara was shot on December 3 by presidential aide Aboubakar Toumba Diakite, who is currently on the run.

The wounded junta chief is being treated in Morocco, where little information has been made available about his condition. However, Cherif said that he was expected to return to Guinea "soon."

Guinean leader escapes assassination attempt

Guinea's military leader Moussa Dadis Camara has escaped an assassination attempt with 'slight' injuries after a top presidential guard shot him.

Camara was shot and "slightly wounded" on Thursday when his security chief and aide Aboubacar Toumba Diakite reportedly made an attempt on the 45-year old president's life, who swept to power in a late December coup last year.

"The president of the republic is still the president of the republic and he is in good health," the West African country's Communications Minister Idrissa Cherif said.

The incident took place in a military camp in downtown Conakry, the capital city, where Diakite loyalists ran the military base.

Meanwhile, there have been reports of intermittent gunfire with military helicopters hovering over the capital in order to quell possible clashes between opposition military groups. The groups came into being in the wake of the government's deadly clampdown on protesting civilians in which 157 people were killed amid widespread allegations of rape and carnage by Camara' troops in late September.

The country's junta, which runs the nation from the main military barracks in the capital, has denied any involvement in the September 28 confrontations with Guineans who had demanded Camara deliver on his promise to launch a presidential vote.

The latest developments in Guinea have prompted the African Union to impose sanctions on Guinea's junta leader who decided to run for president himself.