Military group: Guinea elections by end of 2010

CONAKRY, Guinea – A military-led group said Wednesday it planned to hold presidential elections in Guinea within two years after initially saying it would organize them within two months.

The group calling itself the National Council for Democracy and Development seized the airwaves and said it was in charge of the mineral-rich West African country Tuesday, hours after the death of Guinea's longtime dictator. But Guinea's prime minister told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his government remained in charge.

Capt. Moussa Camara, the spokesman for the military group that declared the coup, said they planned to hold "credible and transparent presidential elections by December 2010." In his first address to the nation on Tuesday, he had said that elections would be organized within 60 days.

Camara also accused Guinea's embattled government of bringing in foreign mercenaries to help them regain control of the country, but did not say which country is providing the alleged mercenaries or which border they might be attempting to enter from.

He made his announcement on state-run radio, which has been in the hands of the renegade soldiers since Tuesday when they sent tanks into the capital.

"I would like to inform the people of Guinea that there are generals who for unknown reasons are trying to recruit mercenaries — some of whom are already inside our borders — for the purpose of destabilizing our attempts to establish peace and democracy," Camara said.

Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location that his government remains in control and that the mercenary claim is bogus.

"It's idiotic — no, it's not true at all," said Souare who has not been able to communicate directly with the population since the dissident troops seized the state's TV and radio stations. "We are still in control and we are trying to normalize the situation. We have no intention of bringing in mercenaries. In fact, we haven't even asked our own armed forces to intervene," he said.

Two days after the death of dictator Lansana Conte, it is unclear who is in control of the country. Leaders of the military group have announced a 32-member interim government made up of 26 military members and six civilians but the prime minister maintains he is in control.

While Guinea has managed to avoid the catastrophic wars that ravaged its West African neighbors, regional experts have warned for years that Conte's death or ouster could send it into turmoil. Conte, who was believed to be in his 70s, was only Guinea's second president since it gained independence from France a half-century ago

Jean-Herve Jezequel, a West Africa scholar in France, warned Tuesday of a "real risk of violence in Conakry."

"Much will depend on whether another strongman emerges or not in the coming days," said Jezequel, who works for the MSF Foundation, linked to the aid group Doctors Without Borders.

Richard Moncrieff, West Africa project director for International Crisis Group, said no successor to Conte was being groomed and no one can legitimately step up without elections. "If a constitutional transition of power is not effected, then it will be bad news for Guinea," he said.

In a statement, the African Union said that "this seizure of power constitutes a flagrant violation of the Guinean constitution," which calls for the National Assembly speaker to take interim power.

Guinea is the world's largest producer of bauxite, used to produce aluminum, and also has gold, diamonds and iron ore deposits. The nation, located at the confluence of several West African rivers, could generate enough electricity to power the region, some analysts say.

But Guinea's economy has rapidly deteriorated and its 10 million people are among the world's poorest. A food exporter at independence, Guinea started importing food as it became crippled by corruption, inflation and high unemployment.

Conte first took power in a 1984 military coup after the death of his predecessor. As a post-Cold War democracy wave swept the continent, he formed a political party and won elections in 1993. He was re-elected in 1998 and 2003, but all the elections were viewed as fraudulent. Conte also changed the country's constitution to eliminate term limits.

For years, Guineans complained but saw stability as preferable to the bloody civil wars in neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia, or the fighting in Ivory Coast. But his unpopularity grew in his final years as the economy deteriorated.

The most serious recent challenge to Conte's rule came two years ago as demonstrators called for him to step down and Guinea descended into chaos. Conte responded by declaring martial law and sent tanks into the streets of the capital. Security forces killed dozens of demonstrators.

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Associated Press writers Maseco Conde in Conakry, Guinea; Angela Charlton in Paris; and Katy Pownall in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this report. Callimachi contributed to the report from Dakar, Senegal.