Guinea - political crisis

Camara calls for calm, supports transitional government

Article published on the 2010-01-18 Latest update 2010-01-18 18:18 TU

Junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara
(Photo: RFI)

Guinean junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara pledged to support a transitional government Sunday and urged his supporters to keep the peace in his first public statement since he was shot by an aide in December.

Captain Camara signed an agreement Friday committing him not to return to Guinea "without reservation", he said.

He was speaking from Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, where he is convalescing after the failed attempt to assassinate him last month.

"I can personally vouch that my health has improved and that I am on the mend," he assured reporters at a press conference.

"I need to be convalescing under medical supervision, and I am free to do that wherever I choose."

The 15 January accord provides for the creation of a transitional government and calls for national elections to be held within six months.

Neither Camara nor members of his National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) party will stand in these elections, Camara said.

That includes Sekouba Konaté, Camara's second-in-command and acting President, who took over following Camara’s assassination attempt.

Addressing his supporters directly, Camara told them that he understood the feelings that have led them to take to the streets to demand his return to Guinea, but that it was time now to accept his absence.

"I ask you to go back to your homes peacefully," he said.

The CNDD sparked a political crisis when it seized power in December 2008, which deepened when security forces killed over 100 people at a pro-democracy march in September.