Kingsley Kobo, AfricaNews reporter in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Guinea's military junta has pulled out of crisis talks with opposition groups to wait for the recovery and return of its leader, Captain Dadis Camara, who is receiving treatment in Morocco following an assassination bid.
Addressing the nation on state television on Wednesday, the junta’s spokesman, minister for democracy and development, Colonel Moussa Keita, said “Our government is withdrawing from the negotiations being held in Burkina Faso until Captain Dadis Camara recovers enough to return to work in Guinea.”
He however assured Guineans that the military government was not giving up on regional dialogue aimed at resolving the country's political crisis, AFP reported.
Opposition leader Mamadou Bah Baadiko of the Union of Democratic Forces (UFD) accused the junta of withdrawing from the talks to stay in power longer.
Mediation
Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore has been mediating the talks in Ouagadougou on behalf of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). But the peace deal he earlier proposed was rejected by the opposition bloc because it gave the junta leader an opportunity to run for an eventual presidential election.
Captain Camara was shot in an argument with one of his guards, Chief Lieutenant Aboubacar Sidiki Diakite, known as "Toumba." It was reportedly a dispute over who should take responsibility for the killing of dozens of opposition protesters at a Conakry stadium on September 28.
Camara was flown to Morocco for treatment aboard a private jet offered by Burkina Faso. He has undergone a brain surgery, and Guinean officials say he is recovering and will soon address the nation, but Radio France International (RFI) on Wednesday night quoted French Secretary of Corporation and Francophonie Alain Joyandet saying "Captain Camara's current state of health will not permit his imminent return to Guinea."
Toumba is still at large. The government has offered a reward of 200 million Guinean francs (25.000 euros, 37.000 dollars) and a villa for his capture.
The junta’s second in command, General Sekouba Konate is now at the helm of affairs until the return of Camara.
Camara seized power in last December, after the death of President Lansana Conte.
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