Kinsley Kobo, AfricaNews reporter Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Guinea's military junta has vowed to fight and repel peace-keeping troops which ECOWAS intends to deploy to preserve order in that country. Diplomats from the AU, UN, and the EU say Guinea needs regional military and civilian observers to help protect civilians and organize new elections.
ECOWAS president, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, first proposed this peace- keeping force during Guinea’s crisis talks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso last week.
He said it would “ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance, restore constitutional legality, defend Guinea's territorial integrity, and play a role in guaranteeing peace and security.”
But the junta’s permanent secretary, Colonel Moussa Keita told reporters in Conakry on Tuesday that “We will consider such deployment as a declaration of war against the Guinean people and we are prepared to fight back and beat such an aggression.”
“Let them go ahead and plan whatever force they want, but they should be reminded that it is impossible for such a force to gain a foothold in Guinea without our permission and which we do not envisage at this point in time,” Col Keita added, AP said.
Guinea’s political climate remains clouded with scary uncertainties even as the International Contact Group on Guinea (ICGG) set up to harmonize differing positions between the military junta and the opposition bloc, battles for an accord in Burkina Faso.
The junta’s leader, Captain Dadis Moussa Camara, who is currently receiving treatment in Morocco following bullet wounds from an assassination attempt, seized power last December after the death of the country’s long-time president, Lassana Conte.
Guinea’s political crisis broke out when soldiers shot and killed some 157 pro-opposition protesters in a Conakry stadium on September 28.
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