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Guinea rewards army after riots
06/03/2007 21:39 - (SA)
Conakry - Guinea has more than doubled army salaries to try to quell discontent among its soldiers after weeks of unrest earlier this year in the west African country, said military sources on Tuesday.
A corporal's monthly wages had risen to 328 000 Guinean francs (about $55) from 110&nbsop;000 francs while junior officers would now receive 441 000 Guinean francs (about $74), up from a previous 188 000 francs, said the sources.
"There were soldiers who were dissatisfied, but today everyone has received their salaries," said a senior army officer who asked not to be identified.
Guinea's security forces enforced 12 days of martial law in February to quash violent protests accompanying a general strike against President Lansana Conte's near quarter century rule.
State of emergency lifted
The state of emergency was lifted after a deal late last month to name a consensus prime minister.
Some soldiers had threatened to demonstrate if their wages were not increased, military sources said.
"We were in our barracks on Friday but we refused to accept our pay because it was too small," one junior officer said, adding the military top brass had quickly agreed to the raise.
Conte, a reclusive diabetic in his 70s, has relied on the armed forces to bolster his autocratic rule since seizing power in a 1984 coup, occasionally leaving him at their mercy.
Soldiers used heavy weaponry to bombard the presidential palace during a 1996 mutiny to demand higher wages.
Diplomats question how long the army, raven by generational and ethnic divisions, will remain loyal in the face of increasingly vocal opposition to Conte.
The former French colony's health ministry says 129 people were killed and 1 379 injured in January and February during the military crackdown, which drew international criticism.
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