59 dead in Guinea violence

The official toll from bloody clashes earlier this week between security forces and protesters in Guinea rose to at least 59 dead, almost double the number previously reported, the health ministry said today.

Forty-four people were killed during Monday’s violence in the capital alone, said Dr Sidiki Diakite, a senior Health Ministry official helping oversee the count nationwide.

The remaining 15 were slain elsewhere in the West African nation the same day.

Demonstrations turned deadly when security forces opened fire on rock-hurling protesters calling for long-ruling President Lansana Conte to cede power to a transitional government.

The health ministry figures showed 233 other people were injured Monday, most by gunshots.

Those included 173 in Conakry and 50 elsewhere in the country.

The figures did not identify the casualties, but the vast majority are believed to have been civilians either protesting or caught in crossfire. No fatalities among security forces have been reported.

The protests were the culmination of a two-week general strike that began January 10 and presented the gravest threat yet to the rule of Conte, who seized power in a 1984 coup.

The strike has paralysed the nation, closing the port, emptying streets and shuttering most private businesses.

Though the strike is still on, tensions eased considerably yesterday after an announcement that Conte had agreed to name a prime minister in what his critics hope would be a step toward relinquishing some of his power.

A commission including government officials, union leaders and civil society representatives met today to work out what powers the new prime minister should have. The commission is supposed make a proposal on the issue to Conte in the near future.

The true death toll from Monday’s violence may never be known. Residents said some of those slain were not brought to hospitals, but swiftly buried by their families. Muslim custom in Guinea requires the dead be laid to rest within 24 hours.

A senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Conakry put the death toll nationwide at 35, with 24 dead in Conakry and 11 others killed in the nation’s interior.

A doctor at Donka hospital, where most of the casualties were brought, said 50 fatalities were registered at Donka alone. He declined to be named for reasons of protocol.

The wounded lay in rooms crammed with three beds each. Many appeared to have been shot in the legs.

Earlier this week, Amnesty International said it had counted more than 30 dead since the strike started. The last toll issued by doctors at Conakry was 22 dead. Doctors at Donka hospital said the number had risen because some wounded had died.

They also said that in the hectic hours following Monday’s violence, they had not had time to accurately assess the toll.

Union chiefs leading the strike earlier this month had initially called for Conte to step down, but have argued more recently that he could stay in power nominally if he handed over the daily running of government to a transitional government.

Many residents are angry over what they say are high levels of corruption within Conte’s government and gross misrule that has left much of the country without adequate water, power or employment.

Many worry that Conte’s death or overthrow could create a power vacuum, plunging the country into civil war. The ailing head of state is in his mid-70s and reportedly suffering from a heart condition.

Although Guinea’s population of 10 million is impoverished, the West African nation is home to half the world’s reserves of bauxite, a material used to produce aluminium.