CONAKRY - Guinea's capital was on edge on Saturday after a botched assassination attempt on the head of the ruling junta, with residents bracing for further violence between out-of-control army factions.
CONAKRY - Guinea's capital was on edge on Saturday after a botched assassination attempt on the head of the ruling junta, with residents bracing for further violence between out-of-control army factions.
Pick-up trucks carrying heavily armed soldiers moved through the quiet streets of the usually bustling city searching for suspects in the attack, with most residents staying indoors.
"The situation is very dangerous," said Kemoko Kaba, an estate agent in Conakry.
"If the president dies that could open the path to violent conflict in this country. This could even mean ethnic clashes," he said.
Guinea's mineral wealth has attracted billions in investments from Rio Tinto, Anglo Gold Ashanti, and Russian metals giant Rusal, none of which have reported any change in operations.
On Thursday renegade soldiers shot and wounded junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara in a sign of divisions in the army since he took power in a December 2008 coup after the death of leader Lansana Conte.
Camara could need surgery due to multiple gunshot wounds, said Burkina Faso president Blaise Campaore, who helped to evauate him.
Rising instability in the West African country, the world's top supplier of aluminium ore bauxite threatens to boil over.
"I've seen people previously hostile to Dadis who now say they hope he doesn't die," said Maimanou Bah, a secretary in Conakry. - Reuters.
Guinea edgy after attack on junta
CONAKRY - Guinea's capital was on edge on Saturday after a botched assassination attempt on the head of the ruling junta, with residents bracing for further violence between out-of-control army factions.
CONAKRY - Guinea's capital was on edge on Saturday after a botched assassination attempt on the head of the ruling junta, with residents bracing for further violence between out-of-control army factions.
Pick-up trucks carrying heavily armed soldiers moved through the quiet streets of the usually bustling city searching for suspects in the attack, with most residents staying indoors.
"The situation is very dangerous," said Kemoko Kaba, an estate agent in Conakry.
"If the president dies that could open the path to violent conflict in this country. This could even mean ethnic clashes," he said.
Guinea's mineral wealth has attracted billions in investments from Rio Tinto, Anglo Gold Ashanti, and Russian metals giant Rusal, none of which have reported any change in operations.
On Thursday renegade soldiers shot and wounded junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara in a sign of divisions in the army since he took power in a December 2008 coup after the death of leader Lansana Conte.
Camara could need surgery due to multiple gunshot wounds, said Burkina Faso president Blaise Campaore, who helped to evauate him.
Rising instability in the West African country, the world's top supplier of aluminium ore bauxite threatens to boil over.
"I've seen people previously hostile to Dadis who now say they hope he doesn't die," said Maimanou Bah, a secretary in Conakry. - Reuters.
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