News / Africa

Guinea's President Calls for Calm After Assassination Attempt

Guinea President Alpha Conde reviews an honor guard at his arrival at the Elysee Palace, in Paris for a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy (File Photo - March 23, 2011)
Guinea President Alpha Conde reviews an honor guard at his arrival at the Elysee Palace, in Paris for a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy (File Photo - March 23, 2011)

Multimedia

Audio
TEXT SIZE - +

Guinea's president is calling for calm following an overnight attack on his home in a suburb of the capital, Conakry.

Soldiers are out in force in Guinea's capital following a nearly two-hour attack on the home of President Alpha Conde that ended just before dawn.  The president later addressed the nation on state television and radio.

Conde called on everyone to remain calm following the attack, in which he says the presidential guard fought heroically and called for reinforcements.  The president congratulated those troops and said nothing will stop the work of the people of Guinea.

It is not clear who was behind the attack, which included rockets and automatic weapons. There are no official reports of arrests.

Conde recalled the traditional belief that no matter what your enemies do against you, if God is with you, nothing will happen. He said no matter what his enemies do, the path of democracy in Guinea has begun and will continue.

Conde was elected president last November in Guinea's first truly-democratic election.  Civilian dictators ruled from independence to 2008 when soldiers took power in a coup.  The military eventually yielded to last year's vote that saw the 73-year-old opposition leader take office.

President Conde said Tuesday that the people of Guinea voted for change and got it.  He then appealed for calm and national unity, asking people to allow the army and security forces to do their jobs.

Conde said there is no room for hatred in Guinea, and said he knows he can count on the people to reject division because there is no development without unity.

Guinea is one of the world's poorest countries despite being the largest exporter of the aluminum ore bauxite.

There was some violence following last year's vote, as riot police and members of Conde's party fought supporters of the second-place finisher, former prime minister Cellou Diallo.  Security forces have since raided Diallo's home saying they are looking for weapons.  Diallo says it is political intimidation.

Diallo's party opposes President Conde's plans for an electoral census to revise voting lists before parliamentary elections by year's end.  The opposition party says that census should be conducted by an independent electoral body, not the Conde government.

You May Like

Karzai to Discuss Enhancing Defense Ties with India

Afghanistan looking for more military aid as it prepares for withdrawal of NATO forces by next year More

India, China Pledge to Overcome Border Tensions

Indian prime minister and Chinese premier attempt to move past tense standoff in the Himalayas during Delhi talks More

Burmese President Opens US Visit with VOA Town Hall Meeting

Ahead of his meeting with President Obama Monday, Thein Sein answered questions on human rights and economic development in his country More

This forum has been closed.
Comments
     
There are no comments in this forum. Be first and add one

Featured Videos

Your JavaScript is turned off or you have an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.
Your JavaScript is turned off or you have an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.
Video

Video US Oil Surge Could Impact Mideast Geopolitics

The United States will account for a third of new oil supplies over the next five years, and will become energy self-sufficient in 20 years, according to a new report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA). Although U.S. oil imports from Arab Gulf countries increased last year, analysts predict the U.S. will lose its dependence on Middle East imports, which is expected to have a huge impact on international relations and the balance of power. VOA's Henry Ridgewell reports.