Guinea Elections

People in the West African nation of Equatorial Guinea will vote on 26 May in parliamentary and municipal elections.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has held power since 1979, making him the world's longest-serving, non-royal head of state. His party currently holds 99 of the 100 seats in parliament.

Human rights groups are concerned about the credibility of

Alpha Conde

The EU has come under increased pressure to force the hand of Guinea’s president Alpha Condé over stalled legislative elections. Martin Banks reports.

Alpha Condé was elected back in 2010 but free and transparent legislative elections and the establishment of a new national assembly have yet to take place. Some €40m in EU emergency support was immediately made available to Guinea in 2010 to assist its transition to democracy.

Orange

Orange plans to bolster its services in West Africa with a new facility in Dakar, Senegal, that will offer development programs for managers of the mobile service in the region.

Region leads revenue growth for Africa and Middle East

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Protests in Guinea

CONAKRY | Tue May 14, 2013 11:29am EDT(Reuters) - Guinean opposition leaders called on Tuesday for renewed protests next week, accusing President Alpha Conde of sabotaging U.N.- mediated talks aimed at ending the impasse over the organization of a parliamentary election.

The opposition, which accuses the president of attempting to rig the long-delayed election, due to take place on June 30, suspended protests last week to allow the talks to take place.

Cpl. Mamadou Balde

CAMP DWYER, Afghanistan - Lance Cpl. Mamadou Balde’s father, Al, always hoped his son would earn his U.S. citizenship. Balde, a maintenance mechanic with General Support 2 Platoon, Retrograde Operations Company, Redeployment and Retrograde in Support of Reset and Reconstitution Operations Group, finally earned his citizenship in a ceremony at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, March 1.

Balde’s journey to citizenship took patience, strength, and sacrifice. Balde was born in Guinea, a war-torn country in West

Guinean army fights back protestors

On 2 May 2013, supporters belonging to the Guinean Opposition Coalition were brutally attacked with live bullets and tear gas by police officers and gendarmes drawn from the Guinea Security Force.

The attack, which occurred on the Fidel Castro Highway in Conakry, left several demonstrators with serious wounds, while three people unfortunately lost their lives through gunshots. A police officer also got killed when he was stabbed with a sharp object.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) welcomed the move as a strong signal that justice could finally be served to the more than 100 women raped during the tragedy.

Violence in Guinea

CONAKRY, Guinea — Victims’ relatives and authorities in West African nation of Guinea say four people are dead following violent demonstrations against an upcoming legislative election.

A cousin said Friday that student Cherif Souleymane Diallo died after being shot by a police officer Friday. A second man, Mamady Camara, who was wounded Thursday by a thrown rock, also died.

FGM in Guinea and West Africa

The founder of an international group that educates people about the dangers of female genital mutilation - also known as female genital cutting or FGM/C - says a growing number of women are refusing to undergo the practice.

Molly Melching, founder of the non-profit group, Tostan, says her community-based program of education and training has helped reduce the practice in more than 6,000 communities in eight African countries.

Man gives us the interview

(Reuters) - Failure by Guinea's politicians to reach agreement for a long-delayed legislative poll is stirring up tribal violence, jeopardizing economic gains and raising fears that the military could once again step in.

The election, first scheduled for 2011, is meant to complete a transition to civilian rule after a military coup in 2008, but has been postponed several times as government and opposition parties remain at loggerheads over the organization of the vote.

The 16-year-old was killed in front of his home in an opposition stronghold area of the capital Conakry as security forces

Guinea protests

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Family members say a 16-year-old boy who took part in an opposition demonstration in Guinea has died from a gunshot wound.

Relatives identified the victim as Boubacar Diallo, a young mechanic, who was shot during Thursday’s demonstration in which dozens marched in the capital.

The boy’s father told The Associated Press it wasn’t known how his son was wounded, though he said security forces in the area were shooting into the air.

Guinea Mining

LONDON — Guinea has arrested two executives of BSG Resources (BSGR), the mining company controlled by Israel’s richest citizen, Beny Steinmetz, as a US investigation into how it won rights to a "lucrative" iron-ore deposit widened.

Local police arrested BSGR vice-president and director of public relations Ibrahima Sory Toure as part of a probe into whether bribes were paid to win two licences covering the Simandou deposit, Mr Toure’s lawyer, Momo Sacko, said on Monday.

Conakry Guinea

By BOUBACAR DIALLO Associated Press

CONAKRY, Guinea April 18, 2013 (AP)

Security forces in Guinea clashed with opposition protesters on Thursday who are opposed to the June date set for legislative elections, leaving at least 15 people wounded, the government said.

Police also arrested the opposition's spokesman and another leader after the demonstration went ahead despite the

Alpha Conde

(Reuters) - Guinea's opposition said it would stage protests this week against the president's decision to hold parliamentary elections in June, raising the risk of more bloodshed after violent demonstrations last month.

The vote is meant to complete a transition to civilian rule in the mineral-rich country after a 2008 military coup and could unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in European aid.

It was originally supposed to be held in 2011, but has been held up by wrangling over the makeup of the electoral commission

Guinea Elections

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) - Aboubacar Sylla, a spokesman for Guinea's coalition of opposition parties, announced that the country's opposition is pulling out of talks with the ruling party, negotiations initiated by President Alpha Conde last month in an attempt to resolve the political feud that has consumed the West African nation since the 2010 presidential election.

Ancient manuscripts in Timbuktu

You may have witnessed a moment, an event or a discovery that would change the future of a community. This event or discovery would have to be something exceptional and dramatic to write a new chapter in the books of history.

But imagine witnessing a moment or discovery that would re-write the history of an entire nation! That has got to be something spectacular to erase and replace the pages of history.

Simandou

Resource nationalism is a growing threat for companies in many emerging markets. The challenge for investors lies in distinguishing between arbitrary or predatory interventions, and legitimate attempts to clean up a broken system.

In Guinea, a mining code reform, an unchecked executive and simmering political tensions have prompted some risk analysts and lawyers to raise alarm bells. Are they justified, or is this a case of the country getting things straight?

Risk consultancy Maplecroft put the west African state in the ‘extreme risk’ category in their 2013 Resource Nationalism

Brigadier General Namory Traore

CONAKRY: Guinea President Alpha Conde named Brigadier General Namory Traore as head of the West African state’s armed forces on Tuesday, replacing General Souleymane Kelefa Diallo who died in a plane crash with five other top army officials on Feb. 11. 

Traore is seen as a close ally of Conde’s who will carry on a UN-backed reform effort to rein in the notoriously undisciplined and bloated Guinea armed forces, blamed for killings and coups since 1958 independence.

New Leaf Africa

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — New Leaf Africa (NLA) 

New Leaf Africa, a team of leaders in technology, population health and renewable energy, has opened a new office in Conakry, Guinea.

“The Republic of Guinea is critical to global and regional biodiversity conservation,” stated Thomas Babbington, CEO of NLA. “The new office in Conakry will allow local employees to quickly coordinate efforts with NLA teams in Europe and America as well as increase the coordination between local conservation, development organizations and government representatives.”

Right now, it is estimated that a staggering 75,000 acres of forest is lost in Guinea each year due to slash and burn

Saudi Assisting with Schools

The Saudi Development Fund has pledged US$24 million for the construction of four schools in Guinea, a communiqué from the Presidency's press office said on Thursday.

It said this was announced by Mr. Youssef Al-Bassam, Director-General of the Saudi Development Fund, on Wednesday during discussions with Guinean President Alpha Condé.

The Saudi fund boss also informed his host of the Kingdom's willingness to cancel some of Guinea's debt and reschedule

FROM time to time over the last few months I’ve had cause to write about the goings-on in Guinea, an unhappy country sandwiched between other West African states, all of which have doubtful track records.

The big difference is that Guinea is hugely mineral wealthy.

That wealth is the only possible reason for South Africa’s keen interest in it. As set out previously in this column, there is a

Anti-riot policemen deploy across Conakry to separate rival gang fighters, March 1, 2013

DAKAR, SENEGAL — The political deadlock in Guinea shows little sign of easing, as the government and opposition trade accusations and violent street clashes once again eclipse all other agendas. On Monday, opposition leaders opted out of a meeting the government says was a bid to tackle disputes about much-delayed legislative elections.

The meeting came days after a clash involving opposition protesters, security forces and pro-government youths in the capital, Conakry, left at least three people dead and many more injured. Each political faction says the other is not serious

Opposition protesters dispersed after teargas was fired in their midst, in Conakry, Guinea.

Guinea’s government said at least 36 people were injured in the capital, Conakry, yesterday in clashes triggered by disagreement over a legislative vote.

Youth put up barricades and damaged cars in several areas of the capital before security forces were deployed to restore calm, government spokesman Albert Damantang Camara said in an e- mailed statement. Gangs with knives and Molotov cocktails attacked homes in several suburbs, Camara said, without giving further details.

Guinea is the world’s biggest exporter of aluminum raw material bauxite, and also has a gold mine owned by AngloGold

AU Commission chair Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is “concerned” about political developments in Guinea.

With a May date tentatively set for elections in the west African country, she has urged Guineans and other stakeholders to remain calm and “engage in genuine dialogue on the way forward”.

Her plea follows a weekend marked by street clashes and violence that saw killings and the destruction of property in the

Alpha Conde

Conakry - Guinea's President Alpha Conde on Monday met with political representatives and campaigners to try to resolve a conflict that last week led to the death of at least six people, an AFP journalist said.

Violence broke out in the Guinean capital Conakry last Wednesday as the opposition staged a demonstration calling for transparency during the 12 May legislative polls and to protest against the South African company selected to revise the electoral roll. Dozens were also wounded in the clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

Monday's meeting lasted for about an hour and was "aimed at finding ways and measures to exit the crisis that is penetrating (sic) the country," a source close to the presidential palace said.

Guinea Radio Stations Attacked

CONAKRY, Guinea — A journalists’ association in Guinea says that two privately-owned radio stations have been attacked, as political tensions rise before Guinea’s legislative elections on May 12.

The Union of Free Radio and Television of Guinea said Monday that the Renaissance FM station was attacked on Sunday and the Planet FM radio station was shot at on Friday when Faya Millimo, leader of the opposition Liberal Bloc, was being

CONAKRY (Reuters) - At least one person was killed and six others wounded on Monday whenGuinea's security forces opened fire in the capital, a human rights group said, warning of a deepening ethnic conflict stemming from rows over forthcoming legislative elections.

The gunfire broke out shortly after Guinea's main opposition leaders boycotted a meeting called byPresident Alpha Conde aimed at ending days of unrest that has spread beyond the capital and now killed at least six people.

Guinea Army fully engaged

(Reuters) - At least one person was killed by gunfire and three others injured in ongoing street clashes in Guinea on Saturday, and the government said it was investigating whether security forces used live rounds against civilians.

Two civilians and one police officer have been killed and hundreds of people injured since tensions over upcoming legislative polls triggered unrest in the West African nation's capital Conakry last week.

Border of Guinea and Ivory Coast

Guinea's Foreign Minister Francois Lounceny Fall, has denied the existence of a "border conflict’’ between his country and Cote d'Ivoire, contrary to rumours circulating in Conakry in the last fewdays.

This was  contained in a statement published in the local press.The minister said that in the last few days, some local media have been publishing unconfirmed information alleging the existence of a "border conflict’’ between Cote d' Ivoire and Guinea around Kpeyaba village in neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire.

Given the situation, the Guinean government decided to come out and reiterate the reciprocal mutual understanding that characterises the friendly relations between the two countries.

* Polls considered last step in return to civilian rule 

* Dispute risks further delaying elections 

By Saliou Samb CONAKRY, Feb 24 (Reuters)

Guinea's opposition coalition has withdrawn from preparations for long-delayed legislative polls and may stage nationwide protests, claiming the run up to the vote has been flawed, an opposition spokesman said on Sunday.

Conakry Airport in Guinea, West Africa, has called for Expressions of Interest in assisting with a renovation of its terminal building, via The Moodie Report, where it plans to expand space. 

This is the second phase of an expansion project that began three years ago. The first included an upgrade of duty free and food & beverage areas. 

The board of directors of airport authority SOGEAC announced the move this week, with opportunities for contractors to manage architectural work, electricity and air conditioning, and sound and fire upgrades. These activities will be tendered in a series of four lots. 

After the Expressions of Interest are gathered, the full tender

FREE AND FAIR ... Guinea’s opposition leaders wave to thousands of people as they take part in a rally on Monday in Conakry, to demand freedom and transparency in the up-coming parliamentary elections.

The May 12 election is intended to be the last step in Guinea’s return to civilian rule following the death of veteran strongman Lansana Conte in 2008 and two years of violent army rule.

President Alpha Conde was elected in 2010 and has promised prosperity for Guinea’s 10 million people.

The West African nation’s economy produces only about US$1.50 per person per day despite a wealth of natural resources, including the world’s largest untapped iron ore deposit. But delays in the legislative vote have deepened a political deadlock and led to intermittent violence, unnerving investors as they wait to tap into Guinea’s abundant iron ore, bauxite and gold reserves.

New phone service in Guinea

A major operator in Guinea has announced that it will introduce mobile data plans as well as mobile payments in the first quarter of 2013. MTN Guinea will offer the new services following an upgrade to its network infrastructure.

The operator provides wireless services via WiMAX, which it introduced to the country in 2011. The operator’s CEO, Phumzile Joshua Phike, stated that this service was being enhanced in order to offer new services. The new offering will encompass mobile money transfer services, data plans and mobile payment services.

Thousands of people take part in a demonstration called by Guinea's opposition groups, on February 18, 2013, in Conakry

CONAKRY — Youths clashed with security forces in Guinea on Tuesday, a day after authorities in the west African nation praised a rare peaceful pro-democracy demonstration in the country.

Youths in the suburbs of the capital Conakry erected barricades and burned car tyres while chanting slogans against President Alpha Conde. They threw stones at police who arrived to dismantle barriers, who responded by firing tear gas.

Dozens were arrested and a number of people lightly injured in the clashes, witnesses said.

Police and witnesses also said that the headquarters of an

A Malian schoolgirl stands at the blackboard as schools reopen in Gao, northern Mali, Monday Feb. 18, 2013

PARIS (AP) — Malian authorities are investigating claims of torture, killings and reprisals by its own soldiers against minorities suspected of links to Islamist militants — accusations that threaten to jeopardize international support for fighting terrorism in the Sahara.

Malian Foreign Minister Tieman Coulibaly insisted to The Associated Press on Tuesday that his government is taking the allegations seriously and won't tolerate such "atrocities." But he acknowledges that it's a tough and sensitive task to investigate them in a poor, violence-scarred country with a weak, military-led government.

French soldier has been confirmed dead during a military operation in northern Mali, French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday

PARIS (AP) — A French soldier was shot to death on Tuesday in a clash with jihadists in a mountainous region of Mali's far north, a critical operation in France's bid to end a growing stranglehold by radicals who had imposed an extreme brand of Islam over more than half the West African country and threatened the borders beyond.

The death of the French Legionnaire, announced by President Francois Hollande, brings to two the number of French troops who have been killed since France launched a surprise military intervention in its former colony on Jan. 11 to push out militants who had taken over the country's vast north. A helicopter pilot was killed on the first day of the intervention.

A Malian schoolgirl listens to her teacher as schools reopen in Gao, northern Mali, Monday Feb. 18, 2013

The Malian president announced plans to hold elections by July as French-led troops battled Islamists in the last major northern town under militant control.

A battle is under way to secure Kidal, the last major town in the sweep to flush out militants in the north.

The French military said it seized the airport in Kidal on Tuesday night, thus gaining control of a major point of access.

French forces are focusing on recapturing airports while Malian forces take over the cities, French army spokesman Col. Thierry Burkhard said.

Alpha Conde's residence was hit by at least one rocket

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Several defendants on trial in Guinea over a brazen attack on the private residence of President Alpha Conde say authorities tortured them to extract confessions.

Conde narrowly survived an assassination attempt on July 19, 2011, after gunmen surrounded his home and pounded his bedroom with rockets. Conde, now 73, was in another room.

The trial began earlier this month. On Tuesday, defense

Malian Man

Here's a challenge for you. Find a blank map of the continent of Africa and point to Guinea.If you can do that with no difficulty whatsoever, then good on you.

If you can't, you're in the majority, I'm sure. If you got in the ballpark of Senegal, Sierra Leone, that kind of area, you've done well. The point is, Guinea is barely ever in the news, even with the current upsurge of interest in its neighbour, Mali.

To all intents and purposes, it's hardly what one might call a high-profile geopolitical hub.

Sauce feuille, a special dish from west Africa Photograph: Saran Kaba

This is one of my favourite Guinean dishes. Normally it's made with "potato" leaves but since that is more difficult to find here in New York, I substitute it with spinach. It taste just as good … or close. Here it goes!

This west African spinach stew is a great winter warmer

Ingredients:

About 2lbs of meat (cut into large cubes)


1 large onion (diced)


Mali - 1/22/2013

To listen to David Cameron’s rhetoric this week, it could be 2001 all over again. Eleven years into the war on terror, it might have been Tony Blair speaking after 9/11. As the bloody siege of the part BP-operated In Amenas gas plant in Algeria came to an end, the British prime minister claimed, like George Bush and Blair before him, that the country faced an “existential” and “global threat” to “our interests and way of life”.

While British RAF aircraft backed French military intervention against Islamist rebels in Mali, and troops were reported to be

Locals wave to French soldiers as a convoy of armoured vehicles leaves Bamako and starts a deployment to the north of Mali on January 15, 2013. French soldiers drove out for their first ground offensive against Islamic insurgents in Mali, with Nigeria.

BAMAKO — French ground forces prepared to engage in Mali for the first time Tuesday to drive Islamists out of the town of Diabaly, which they seized a day earlier, while a first lot of regional troops headed to join the offensive.

As witnesses reported hundreds of Malian and French troops in armoured vehicles headed to Diabaly, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital, another convoy was seen leaving Bamako in a northern direction.

"Several hundred Malian and French soldiers left Niono (south of Diabaly) to take" back the town, said a local government official in Niono, while a security source announced plans to "take back Diabaly with the French."

A still image from video released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) on January 12, 2013 shows French fitting rockets to a plane in Ndjamena

French fighter jets pounded Islamist rebel strongholds deep in northern Mali on Sunday as Paris poured more troops into the capital Bamako, awaiting a West African force to dislodge al Qaeda-linked insurgents from the country's north.

The attacks on Islamist positions near the ancient desert trading town of Timbuktu and Gao, the largest city in the north, marked a decisive intensification on the third day of the French mission, striking at the heart of the vast area seized by rebels in April.

France is determined to end Islamist domination of northern Mali, which many fear could act as a base for attacks on the

Fighters from Ansar Dine stand guard in Timbuktu as they prepare to publicly lash a member of the Islamic Police found guilty of adultery.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Radical Islamists held on to a city in central Mali Friday after sending the Malian military reeling in retreat. With the militants showing the capability to press even further into government-held territory, international aid organizations began evacuating staff from the narrow central belt of the country.

Residents who live near an airport about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the captured town on Konna reported hearing planes arrive throughout the night. Who, or what, the planes were bringing could not be immediately determined.

The United Nations Security Council condemned the capture of

Moustapha Naite

A young and rising state apparatchik who started off in the business world with an internet cafe, Naïte is a close adviser to President Alpha Condé.

After Condé's election in late 2010, he appointed Moustapha Naïte as director general of the Direction Nationale du Patrimoine Bâti Public, a state body that oversees public buildings.

A serious cholera outbreak in Guinea and Sierra Leone in 2012 highlights the need for better preparedness

DAKAR, 31 December 2012 (IRIN) - The cholera epidemic that struck Guinea and Sierra Leone in 2012 is winding down. What to do now? Start preparing - for cholera. 

That’s part of the message from donors, aid workers and health officials after the most serious cholera outbreak in years that infected some 30,000 people and killed 400 others in the two countries - mostly in Sierra Leone. They say there should be better preparations for cholera, based on lessons learned and on a strategy in Guinea that was put to the test in 2012. 

Since 2009 the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Action Against

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Bellzone Mining announced Thursday the first shipment of iron ore was dispatched from its Forecariah joint venture with China International Fund in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa. 

The shipment was made on Wednesday and further details will be released on January 3rd, the company said in a statement. 

The Forecariah iron ore mine began production in May 2012, with plans to ramp up the operation in the New Year. 

Bellzone is an exploration and resource development company with iron ore and nickel and copper permits in the Republic of Guinea. The AIM-listed company has a market capitalisation of

Freedom fighter. Tity Faye is a 56-year-old native of Guinea who fled his homeland in 2000.

Human rights and democratic values are principles that many Canadians take for granted. Not so for many immigrants and refugees who have chosen to make Canada their home.

Many come from countries where a lack of civil liberties and democracy is the norm. They arrive in Canada full of hope and optimism, to build a life and become part of the vibrant fabric that makes up the GTA.

But their hearts and passions are divided. Many speak out, criticize and protest against events in their homeland. It's a thankless task. Theirs are voices in the wilderness.

(Reuters) - The government of Guinea on Friday cleared a project by state-owned China Power Investment Corp to invest nearly $6 billion in an alumina refinery in Boffa, some 120 km (75 miles) west of the capital, a statement from the government said.

Guinea voter registration

The European Union says it has agreed to re-launch €174.3 million in development funds to Guinea.

The move comes after the West African nation finally set a date for long-delayed legislative elections.

The announcement on Friday said Guinea's government had "presented a credible timetable for the organization of legislative elections."

By BOUBACAR DIALLO and RUKMINI CALLIMACHI

Associated Press

CONAKRY, Guinea December 13, 2012 (AP) 

A military crackdown on protesters in a remote Guinean town this week left three people dead and dozens more wounded, while at least three women were raped by soldiers, witnesses alleged Thursday. A defense official denied soldiers shot civilians, but the incident still added to concerns about Guinea's

In this 2010 file photo, Guinea president elect Alpha Conde leaves Conakry's Grand Mosque surrounded by bodyguards REUTERS/Joe Penney

CONAKRY/LONDON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Hidden under the lush forests of southern Guinea is the world's largest untapped deposit of iron ore, a resource so rich it covers dirt roads, trees and just about everything above it in a burnt, rust red dust.

The Simandou deposit has some of world's highest grade, lowest impurity ore, enough to satisfy 12 percent or more of global seaborne demand for steel-making iron ore, and transform one of the world's poorest countries into a major producer.

Yet in more than a hundred years since it was first discovered,

Troups to Mali

West African leaders have agreed to deploy 3,200 international stabilization force in Mali to flush out Islamist rebels terrorizing the sisterly country. The leaders reached the decision Sunday, November 11, 2012 in an Extraordinary Session of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government held in Abuja, Nigeria with a renewed commitment to finding timely resolution to the crises in both Mali and Guinea Bissau.

According to a release, Liberia's Foreign Minister Augustine

Nov 11 (Reuters) - President Alpha Conde said on Sunday Guinea would go on fighting corruption despite the murder of the West African country's treasury director, a champion of the anti-graft movement.

Aissatou Boiro was shot dead by unidentified attackers in military uniforms as she was returning home in the capital Conakry in her car on Friday. Several passengers in the car were wounded.

The head of Guinea's treasury was gunned down as she was driving home in what her colleagues describe as a brazen assassination aimed at silencing an official who had launched an investigation into the disappearance of millions in state funds.

The forensic doctor who examined the body of treasury chief Aissatou Boiro after she was brought to the morgue Friday night said she had two bullet wounds to the chest and died of internal bleeding.

Guinea legislature

Guinea's government swore in most members of its new electoral commission Thursday after opposition concerns earlier delayed the ceremony in a controversy that has prompted violent street protests.

Bakary Fofana, the former foreign affairs minister during Guinea's transitional government several years ago, was elected head of the commission. The panel's composition has been a source of tension in this West African country long

Guinea mining

Agreement will boost aluminium production in the UAE and boost African country’s economy

Abu Dhabi: Mubadala and Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG) have signed an agreement for the long-term export of bauxite to the UAE.

The signing, which took place in Yas Hotel, was attended by General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Guinean president Alpha Conde.

Opposition Parties

Guinea's opposition blocked the swearing-in ceremony of the country's new election commission Wednesday and reiterated that it will sue if the panel's members are not changed.

Disagreements over the electoral process in this West African nation already have spilled over into violent protests and made it impossible for the country to hold legislative elections.

Members of the commission were appointed earlier this week via a presidential decree, but the opposition was unhappy with

Guinea, West Africa

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Guinea's opposition is threatening court action over the makeup of the country's election commission, whose new members were appointed via a presidential decree this week.

The coalition of opposition parties held a meeting Tuesday, and in a press conference following their session, they said that if the list is not changed, they will file a lawsuit, further complicating an already drawn-out fight which has made it

Alpha Conde

Oct 30 (Reuters) - Guinea's opposition on Tuesday accused the government of tampering with its list of nominees to a newly formed electoral commission, casting doubt on the country's latest efforts to jumpstart election preparations.

A political stalemate in the world's top bauxite supplier, nestled in the midst of Africa's fragile 'coup belt', has stalled legislative polls needed to restart foreign aid and complete a shift to civilian rule after a 2008 coup.

President Alpha Conde named a new 25-person electoral body

Tear Gas in Streets of Guinea

CONAKRY, Guinea — Residents of the northern town of Labe say that riot police fired tear gas at hundreds who gathered to protest the firing of a teacher who allegedly criticized the Guinean government in class.

A student said Monday during the march that Mariama Tata Diallo was an exemplary teacher and shouldn’t be fired for being active in Guinea’s opposition.

Ethnic tensions in Guinea

Conakry — On October 2, close to two years after the election of Alpha Condé as the first democratically-elected president of Guinea, the so-called 'water castle' of Africa celebrated its 55th anniversary of independence from the French.

Although Guinea was the first and only West African French colony to opt for complete independence from the French Community - driven by the nationalistic and anti-imperialistic views of its first leader Ahmed Sékou Touré - Guinea has since

Pin It

Guinea's ethnic divide

(Reuters) - Two years ago, Guinea's first freely-elected president Alpha Conde promised to unite "every son" of his nation; today the man with ambitions to become West Africa's Nelson Mandela is struggling to halt a wave of ethnic unrest.

Tribal violence in the world's biggest bauxite exporter is threatening to delay parliamentary elections, scare off foreign investors and deepen strains in neighboring countries across Africa's fragile "coup belt".

Textiles Africa

BROUMOV, Czech Republic –  When the managers of a textile factory in northern Czech Republic declared they would focus sales on Africa, their bankers, insurers and suppliers shook their heads in disbelief.

A decade later, the decision is paying off. While the textile industry in Europe is under pressure from low-cost competition in Asia, the Czech company Veba is working around the clock to meet demand for the high-quality brocade it ships to Muslims and elites in western Africa.

The textiles are of a better quality than those shipped in from China and have become a favorite among Africa's Mecca-bound pilgrims.

CONAKRY, Oct. 20 — The Guinean government on Friday appealed to the country’s opposition leaders to get involved in the process to unblock the ongoing electoral process so that the country could hold free and fair legislative elections.

It’s on this basis that the territorial administration minister, Alhassane Conde, appeared on national television on Thursday and castigated Guinea’s radical opposition for trying to impede the electoral process.

African Union Chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (front L) and Mali's President Dioncounda Traore attend a high level international meeting on the crisis in northern Mali, Bamako, October 19, 2012.

BAMAKO — High-level delegations from the United Nations, West African bloc ECOWAS, and the African Union met with Malian leaders Friday to develop a coherent strategy for tackling the crisis in northern Mali, where al-Qaida linked militant groups have taken control.

Mali’s interim President Dioncounda Traore urged representatives from ECOWAS, the African Union, European Union, United Nations and other key partners to act immediately in addressing the deteriorating situation in the north.

Traore assured attendees of the total cooperation of the Malian government, and said it would not falter because those present

Guinea and Mali discuss situation

BAMAKO, Oct. 19 — The Malian government on Thursday issued a statement, expressing shock following the expulsion of 26 Malian nationals from Guinea, given that the two neighboring countries have friendly relations.

The statement from Mali’s foreign ministry said that on Oct. 12, the Guinean authorities expelled 26 Malian nationals living within the Guinean territory. According to the Malian government, neither the Malian diplomatic representation in Conakry, nor the Malian authorities in Bamako, were informed

Guns headed for Mali

Guinea's defense minister confirmed that a seized container of weapons bound for strife-torn Mali has been released after a review by experts from ECOWAS, the body representing nations in West Africa.

Abdoul Kabele Camara said the shipment was intercepted in August at the port of Conakry, Guinea's capital. The arms had been ordered by Mali's ex-President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was ousted in a coup in March. Authorities blocked the arms, fearing they might be used by the military clique that led Mali's coup.