Posted on Tuesday 26 January 2010 – 11:05
Mamdou Dian Donghol Diallo, AfricaNews reporter in Conakry, Guinea
The acting head of the Guinea junta General Sékouba Konaté has said he had no intention of becoming the president of the country. He said the former head Dadis Camara too had the same intension before an attempted assassination attempt on his life failed.

Konate blamed “demagogues and liars” for the wide spread rumour making rounds that the junta wanted to hold on to power after the death of President Lansana Conté.

Speaking to UN emissaries from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and African Union (AU), Konaté argued that “God will punish all those who betrayed. “

“Neither I nor Dadis (Camara, the head of the junta) will be president in Guinea. We will repair the mistakes. Guinean people woke up and demanded free and transparent elections in order to move towards a democratic society,” he said.

“Very satisfied” with the statements of general Konaté, the spokesman of the various delegations, Ibrahima Fall said adding that a meeting of the International Contact Group (ICG) on Guinea will be held on January 28th at the AU headquarters in Addis Abeba, the capital of Ethiopia.

Confidence

“We are confident in your determination to carry to term the historic mission entrusted to you. We see a patriotic act in your actions that go beyond your person. With a commitment without reservation we are on your side, “said Fall.

General Konaté had previously met Captain Moussa Dadis Camara in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso where he lived since he returned from Morocco where he was hospitalized after the attempted assassination perpetrated against him by his former aide.

Their meeting was held under the auspices of Burkinabe President, Blaise Compaoré, facilitator of the ECOWAS political crisis in Guinea.

General Konaté and Captain Camara agreed to the establishment of a national unity government headed by a prime minister proposed by the Active forces of the country who will organize “quickly” free and transparent elections.

On Thursday General Sékouba konaté named the leader of the Union for Progress of Guinea (UPG), Jean Marie Dore as Prime Minister.

(AFP) – 15 hours ago

CONAKRY — Guinea’s interim junta leader General Sekouba Konate said he wants to organise quickly free elections in the beleaguered west African state.

“We should move quickly, quickly, to organise these free and transparent elections,” General Sekouba Konate said in comments broadcast on national television and radio.

Konate met Friday with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) president Mohamed Ibn Chambas, African Union representative Ibrahima Fall and Said Djinnit, the special representative of UN chief Ban Ki-Moon.

He said Guinea would need assistance to organise the elections, which should held within six months under an accord reached last week to guide the military-ruled country out of a 13-month political and human rights crisis.

“We are counting on you and you can count on us,” said Konate.

Under the political transition deal an opposition politician, Jean-Marie Dore, was appointed as caretaker prime minister.

Djinnit said the junta was bound by the deal, signed in the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou, not to put up candidates in the elections.

“The general confirmed his determination to honour the Ouagadougou commitment to hand over power to democratically elected authorities at the end of the transition,” he said.

A military coup was launched within hours of the death of long-time dictator General Lansana Conte on December 23, 2008.

A massacre of more than 150 opposition demonstrators during a rally in a Conakry stadium on September 28 plunged Guinea further into crisis.

Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, who launched the coup, has agreed to stay out of the country after being wounded in a December attack by an aide that forced him to seek medical treatment abroad.