An ongoing political crisis in Guinea with a group of coup leaders announcing the arrest of President Alfa Conte and the abolition of institutions.

Videos have surfaced on social media depicting the president as a detainee of special forces men, with the ministry saying it had repelled an attack on the presidential palace.

The commander of the special forces, Mamadi Doumbouya, announced along with other officers – coup plotters in a video message that they decided to arrest the president, to abolish the constitution, to dissolve the institutions, including the government, and to close the borders and impose a traffic ban across the country of West Africa, which has been mired in a severe economic and political crisis for months. 

The coup leaders also released a second video showing President Conte being questioned if he had been abused and who refused to answer.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has strongly condemned the seizure of power in Guinea “by force of arms” and called for the immediate release of President Alfa Conte, 83.

The State Department said that violence and measures beyond the constitutional order undermine the prospects for peace, stability and prosperity in Guinea, according to a State Department press release, stressing at the same time that such actions would limit the ability of the United States and other Guinean international partners to offer assistance to the country on its path to national unity and development.

France also “condemned the attempted seizure of power in Guinea and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of President Conte”, in a statement issued by the French Foreign Ministry.

The coup was also condemned by the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States, calling for the release of President Conte and the restoration of constitutional order. 

For months, Guinea, one of the poorest countries in the world despite its mineral and hydrological wealth, has been in an acute economic and political crisis, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Source: CNA

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