Last modification: 30/12/08
 -  coups - military junta
 
'President General' Conte's death turns new page for Guinea
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The death of Guinea's longtime president Lansana Conte (pictured) at 74 has thrown this resource-rich West African nation of 10 million into turmoil. A military junta, led by an army captain and farmer's son, seized control of the country.
A page in history turned in Guinea with the death of its president, Lansana Conte, in power for 24 years. He died on December 22 at the age of 74, after suffering from a serious illness for several years. In the hours following the announcement of his death, the army launched a coup, the country remained in a state of confusion and the military was the first to react. It announced on public radio that the government had been dissolved along with the country's main institutions and that the Constitution was suspended. Leading the coup was a little-known army captain, Moussa Dadis Camara, who on December 24 proclaimed himself president of Guinea. He justified the coup d’état by evoking "a civic act" aimed at "saving a people in distress." The following day, he affirmed his claim to power by demanding, and receiving, the allegiance of the prime minister and his administration. The international community and the African Union immediately expressed concern. Meeting in Ethiopia, the AU called on Guinea's political and military forces to ensure that the transition of power was peaceful, consensual and constitutional.

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