GUINEA: Coup Underway, Ministers held in Military Base

[Robbien]

Source: AGI

(AGI) - Conakry, Dec. 23 - What is going on in Guinea, a few hours after the death of President Gen. Lansana Conte, is a military coup.

Conte, 74, one of the longest lasting African dictators, had ruled for more than 24 years. He had suffered from a mysterious illness. The announcement of Conte's death was followed by another one, by which it was made known that the Constitution had been suspended, all political and trade union activity had been stopped and the government and other main institutions dissolved and replaced by a "Consultative Council", made up of civilians but including also officers. The latter appear to provide the driving force of the coup.

Their next step was to summon all the ministers of the dissolved government and other high ranking officials and politicians and hold them in an Army base, officially to "guarantee their safety". The population was ordered on the radio to "stay at home and abstain from all vandal acts and looting". This was done in the name and on behalf of the Consultative Council, which, a statement said, had "actually taken power" to fill the institutional vacuum.

The president who will succeed Conte will be appointed by this body in the next few days, along with the new Premier and his cabinet, whose top priority, the statement said, was to fight corruption.

Read more: http://www.agi.it/world/news/200812231255-pol-ren0032-art.html

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Swiss Info's take on the situation:
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Guinea_soldiers_attempt_coup_after_president_dies.html?siteSect=143&sid=10125503&cKey=1230038573000&ty=ti

"There is an attempted coup d'etat," National Assembly President Aboubacar Sompare, who under the constitution should take over as interim head of state, told French TV station France 24

. . .

Sompare said negotiations were underway between those officers and soldiers attempting the coup, who earlier announced the suspension of the constitution and the government in a radio broadcast, and those loyal to constitutional rule.

The national assembly head said he believed the majority of the military were "loyalist."

Former colonial power France said it would oppose any coup in Guinea. "We will not be content with a situation that does not respect the constitutional order," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier told a news conference.

"It seems that the legitimate authorities are currently in control of the situation in the country," Chevallier said.

Heavily-armed soldiers guarded the strategic road bridge giving access to downtown Conakry and also patrolled the streets in pick-up trucks. But the city was calm.

In an earlier broadcast on state radio announcing the suspension of the constitution, one of the coup-plotters, Captain Moussa Davis Camara, said a National Council for Democracy and Development was taking over.

The broadcast cited what it called widespread corruption, impunity and anarchy and a "catastrophic economic situation" to justify the dissolving of the government. "The members of the current government are in large part responsible for this unprecedented economic and social crisis," it said.

[Turbineguy]

1. In the maritime world

trading in West Africa, there was a custom to put out the word that the next port of call was Conakry. This was to discourage stowaways.

[Joanne98]

2. Bush+banks+oil You got to google Equatorial Guinea! MSM deception

By Joseph Kay

24 August 2004

The Justice Department announced on Friday that it is launching a criminal investigation into Riggs Bank. In recent months, the Washington-based bank has become engulfed in a scandal related to charges of money-laundering, corruption and terrorist financing.

Riggs, which touts itself as “the most important bank in the most important city in the world,” has been known for decades as the bank of the Washington elite, including politicians, foreign ambassadors and the wealthy. It has held presidential accounts stretching back to the time of the Civil War, and is a prominent fixture in the political and social establishment of the nation’s capital.

Or rather, it was a prominent fixture. In July, PNL Financial Services agreed to buy Riggs for $779 million. The sale will become final by early next year.

The bank’s prominent embassy and international operations will be shut down in an attempt to bury a scandal that has the potential of becoming much larger. That an institution like Riggs could so quickly disintegrate is an indication of the extent of the corruption that has overtaken American finance and government.

There are three separate activities for which Riggs has come under investigation: (1) its relationship with the Saudi royal family and the potential financing of two of the September 11 hijackers through an account owned by the wife of the Saudi ambassador; (2) its relationship with the corrupt and dictatorial regime of the oil-rich West African country of Equatorial Guinea; and (3) its banking business with the former military dictator of Chile, Augusto Pinochet.

The Saudi accounts


The public revelations concerning the bank’s relationship with Saudi Arabia came mainly through the publication of a Newsweek article on December 2, 2002 (“The Saudi Money Trail”). The news magazine reported that in January 2000, two of the hijackers who were on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon—Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar—received monetary aid and other assistance from Omar al-Bayoumi.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/aug2004/rigg-a24.shtml

President Lansana Conte of Equatorial Guinea, who led the country for 24 years, died on Monday after a long illness. The 74-year-old, one of Africa's longest serving leaders, died in Conakry, the capital, Tidiane Souare, the prime minister, said on Tuesday. Souare immediately called for "calm and restraint" and urged the army to help keep the peace.

http://gbcghana.com/news/24142detail.html

[Robbien]

3. Then the guy holding the coup

is the good guy here? In his attempt to stop the automatic succession of Conte's man Soulare is he putting a roadblock in the flow of money to the Saudi accounts?

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. 'Guinea' and 'Equatorial Guinea' are 2 entirely different countries

http://www.travelnotes.org.nyud.net:8080/Africa/images/africa2.gif

That 2nd link you gave has got it completely wrong - it should not have put that 'Equatorial' in there at all. Quite appalling, for a Ghana broadcaster. As your first link says, the ruler of Equatorial Guinea (the one with the oil) is Obiang - alive and kicking, unfortunately; see eg http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article5348314.ece

[Joanne98]

5. Thanx