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Union leaders try to defuse crisis in Guinea

February 16 2007 at 01:27AM

By Saliou Samb Conakry - Union leaders met Guinea's government on Thursday to explore ways of ending a general strike and martial law, as international calls grew for President Lansana Conte to share power with the opposition. The streets of the coastal capital Conakry were quiet as heavily-armed soldiers enforced an 18-hour curfew under a state of emergency declared by Conte on Monday to halt protests in which over 110 people, almost all civilians, have been killed. The opposition strike and the military crackdown have brought the West African nation to a standstill, crippling bauxite shipments from the world's largest exporter and worsening food shortages in major cities. Guinea's latest bout of violence erupted after Conte named a close ally as prime minister on Friday. Unions said that violated a power-sharing deal made last month to end an earlier 18-day general strike that shook his 23-year grip on power. The opposition says the rarely-seen Conte, who seized power in a 1984 coup, has become an increasingly erratic leader and is unfit to rule. Unions restarted the national stoppage on Monday as street riots swept the former French colony. "We denounced abuses and the choice of the prime minister," said union negotiator Boubacar Biro Barry after the meeting with senior officials, including the head of the National Assembly. "We said clearly that we did not want this prime minister and they said they would see the president to discuss that," he said, adding the group would hold its next meeting on Saturday. Human rights groups have denounced frequent abuses committed by Guinea's military to repress the protests, including rape and robbery, shooting on unarmed crowds and brutal beatings.

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