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CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) – Guinea’s new military leaders tried on Monday after the overthrow of President Alpha Conde to strengthen their power by ordering the soldiers of his presidential guard to join the junta troops and prohibit government officials from leaving the country .
After the junta put the West African nation back under military rule for the first time in over a decade, it had already dissolved the country’s national assembly and constitution. Regional military commanders replaced Guinea governors on Monday as the junta consolidated its control.
Junta President Col. Mamady Doumbouya said the new military regime would not seek revenge against political enemies, but he also instructed officials he called from Conde’s deposed government to immediately surrender their passports.
“There will be no spirit of hatred or vengeance. There will be no witch hunt, ”said Doumbouya, 41, turning to the officers wearing a red beret and dark sunglasses next to a crowd of armed soldiers. “But justice will be the compass that will guide every Guinean citizen.”
“Former members of the government will not be allowed to travel outside our borders during the transition,” said Doumbouya, who led the special forces of the Guinean army before taking power on Sunday. “All your travel documents and vehicles must be given to the general secretaries of your former departments.”
The military junta has refused to issue a schedule for Conde’s release because the 83-year-old deposed leader still has access to medical care and his doctors. However, the West African regional bloc ECOWAS demanded his immediate release and threatened sanctions if the demand were not complied with.
Conde’s forcible dismissal on Sunday came after the president sought and won a controversial third term last year, saying the term limits do not apply to him. State television showed the junta being greeted by cheering Guineans, some of whom chanted “Freedom!” at the passing military convoy in the streets.
While both the political opposition and the Condes junta sought overthrow, it remained unclear on Monday how united the two would advance.
In its first comments since the coup, the long-standing opposition party, the National Alliance for Change and Democracy, said that the overthrow of the government on Sunday “carries with it the hope of a fresh start for our nation.” But the party also encouraged the military rulers to quickly establish the rule of law.
It was also unknown on Monday how much support the junta leader had within the larger military. As the commander of the Army’s special forces unit, he directed elite soldiers, but it was still possible that others who remained loyal to the ousted president could launch a counter-coup in the hours or days ahead.
When the coup was announced on state television, Doumbouya pretended to be the patriot of Guinea, which remained poor despite decades of independence from its former colonial ruler, France. However, observers say the tension between Guinea’s president and the army colonel stems from a recent proposal to cut some military salaries.
Conde’s 2010 election victory – the country’s first ever democratic vote – was supposed to be a fresh start after decades of corrupt, authoritarian rule and political unrest. Opponents said, however, that Conde, too, failed to improve the lives of the Guineans, most of whom live in poverty despite the country’s vast mineral resources of bauxite and gold.
The year after Conde’s first choice, he barely survived an assassination attempt when gunmen surrounded his house overnight and bombed his bedroom with rockets. Rocket propelled grenades landed on the site and one of his bodyguards was killed.
Violent street demonstrations broke out last year after Conde organized a referendum to amend the constitution. Unrest deepened after he won the October election, with the opposition saying dozens were killed during the crisis.
In neighboring Senegal, which has a large diaspora of Guineans who opposed Conde, the news of his political death was received with relief.
“President Alpha Conde deserves to be removed. He tried hard to run for a third term when he had no right to, ”said Malick Diallo, a young Guinean shopkeeper in the suburbs of Dakar.
“We know a coup is not good,” said Mamadou Saliou Diallo, another Guinean who lives in Senegal. “A president has to be elected democratically. But we don’t have a choice. We have a president who is too old, who no longer makes Guineans dream and who does not want to leave power. “
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Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associate press writers Babacar Dione in Dakar, Senegal, contributed.
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