EU agrees embargo against Camara junta

EU member states have agreed a draft resolution imposing an arms embargo on Guinea and sanctions against the military junta, following a bloody crackdown on opposition supporters that rights groups said claimed more than 150 lives.

By FRANCE 24 (text)

Guinea's military junta faces sanctions and an arms embargo from the EU, following an agreement by EU member states on Wednesday.

The draft resolution against junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara's National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) comes after last month's massacre of unarmed opposition demonstrators.

The UN says more than 150 people were killed and hundreds more injured when troops opened fire on the rally calling for Camara not to stand as president.

The junta itself admits that 56 people were killed.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague is probing the events.

"The council has decided to adopt measures targeting the members of the CNDD and individuals associated with them, responsible for the violent crackdown or the political stalemate in the country," read draft council conclusions.

"The council has also decided to impose an arms embargo on Guinea,"

An EU official last week termed the killings, "brutality never seen before."

Last week, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) itself imposed an arms embargo on Guinea and said it would seek the support of the African Union, European Union and United Nations to enforce it.