CONAKRY • Guinean government officials have been barred from leaving the country until further notice and a curfew in the mining areas has been lifted, the leader of an army unit which ousted President Alpha Conde said yesterday.
Colonel Mamady Doumbouya - a former French legionnaire officer - told a gathering of Mr Conde's ministers, including the prime minister and top government officials, they should also hand back their official vehicles.
"There will be no witch hunt," he said, a day after the coup which drew international condemnation and threats of sanctions.
The takeover in the West African nation that holds the world's largest bauxite reserves, an ore used to produce aluminium, sent prices of the metal sky-rocketing to a 10-year high yesterday over fears of further supply disruption in the downstream market.
There was no indication of such disruption yet.
Light traffic resumed, and some shops reopened yesterday around the main administrative district of Kaloum in Conakry which witnessed heavy gunfire throughout Sunday as the special forces battled soldiers loyal to Mr Conde.
Impoverished and volatile, the West African state was hit by fresh turmoil on Sunday when special forces arrested 83-year-old Mr Conde, declared they were scrapping the Constitution, and imposed a curfew.
The government was dissolved, and governors and other senior administrators have been replaced by the military, the junta said.
Discontent in the country had been growing for months over a flatlining coronavirus-hit economy and the leadership of Mr Conde, who became Guinea's first democratically elected president in 2010. Five years later, he was re-elected - but he sparked fury last year after ramming through changes to the Constitution enabling him to sidestep a two-term limit.
A junta spokesman said on television that land air borders had also been reopened. However, uncertainty remains.
While the army unit appeared to have Mr Conde in detention, other branches of the army are yet to publicly comment.
Colonel Doumbouya said on state television on Sunday that "poverty and endemic corruption" had driven his forces to remove Mr Conde from office.
Draped in the national flag, he accused the government of "endemic corruption" and "trampling of citizens' rights".
"We are no longer going to entrust politics to one man, we are going to entrust politics to the people," the coup leader said. "Guinea is beautiful. We don't need to rape Guinea anymore, we just need to make love to her."
He also promised to launch a "national consultation to open an inclusive and calm transition".
A video sent to AFP showed Mr Conde sitting on a sofa surrounded by troops.
The United Nations quickly denounced the takeover, and both the African Union and West Africa's regional bloc have threatened sanctions.
In an overnight statement, the US State Department said that violence and extra-constitutional measures could erode Guinea's prospects for stability and prosperity.
"These actions could limit the ability of the United States and Guinea's other international partners to support the country," the statement said.
Regional experts say, however, that unlike in landlocked Mali where neighbours and partners were able to pressure a junta there after a coup, leverage on the military in Guinea could be limited because it is not landlocked, and also because it is not a member of the West African currency union.
Although mineral wealth has fuelled economic growth during Mr Conde's reign, few citizens significantly benefited, contributing to pent-up frustration among millions of jobless youth.
Despite an overnight curfew, the headquarters of Mr Conde's presidential guard was looted by people who made off with rice, cans of oil, air conditioners and mattresses, a Reuters correspondent said.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
