• EU resumes full cooperation with Guinea
• Guinea government, opposition agree to end of September election
• Guinea: UN's Ban hails 'breakthrough' political deal between government, opposition

• Scale of Guinea's Ebola epidemic unprecedented: aid agency
• Surge in cocaine trade undermines President's bid to revive Guinea
• Guinea opposition decries 'appalling' poll fraud

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

EU resumes full cooperation with Guinea
27 January 2014 - The European Union has resumed full cooperation with the West African nation of Guinea five years after a military coup triggered a suspension. The move releases $191 million in development assistance to the West African nation. (more)

Guinea government, opposition agree to end of September election
4 July 2013 - Guinea's government and opposition parties reached a deal on Wednesday to hold long-delayed legislative elections at the end of September to complete the mineral-rich nation's transition to civilian rule. The election, originally due to take place in 2011, is essential to unlock nearly 200 million euros of European Union funding. (more)

Guinea: UN's Ban hails 'breakthrough' political deal between government, opposition
4 July 2013 - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the signing of an agreement between Guinea's presidential coalition and opposition parties to hold legislative elections, commending all political leaders for 'choosing the path of dialogue to address their differences'. Hailing this political development as a 'breakthrough', Mr Ban, in a statement issued by a spokesperson in New York, welcomed the signing on 3 July of the deal in the Guinean capital, Conakry, at the end of the UN-mediated inter-Guinean political dialogue that was launched on 28 March. (more)

Guinea's opposition may agree to election
10 June 2013 - After weeks of violent clashes, Guinea's ruling party and opposition succeeded in drafting a framework which might allow the country to move forward with much-delayed legislative elections, according to the international mediator brought in to help bridge the chasm between the two sides. Said Djinnit, the special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, explained on Sunday that the opposition has agreed to rescind their boycott and will take part in the poll so long as 10 conditions are met. In return, the ruling party has agreed to delay the June date for the ballot. (more)

Guinea to see $2.4 billion of its debt cancelled
26 September 2012 - More than $2.4 billion of Guinea's foreign debt is being cancelled in a major boost for the deeply impoverished West African nation whose mineral riches were looted over decades of corrupt dictatorship, government officials said Wednesday. 'This will allow Guinea to free up substantial resources,' said Ansoumane Camara, an economist and consultant in Conakry who said the money could be redirected toward improving health and educational programmes. (more)

Paris Club governments agree on $344 million debt relief for Guinea
11 April 2012 - The Paris club of creditor governments agreed on Wednesday to provide $344 million in debt relief to Guinea, including more than $151 million in debt cancellation, the group said in statement. The Club said that Guinea's government was convincingly implementing a reform programme, which could lead to final round of debt relief with its Paris Club creditors. (more)

Guinea: Nutrition finds a place in agriculture plan
7 July 2011 - The quality of a baby's first solid food and teaching families about proper nutrition and hygiene are now part of Guinea's agricultural investment strategy. Experts working on the 2011-2015 agriculture plan, to be finalized in the coming weeks, say the first-ever nutrition component stems from an increasing recognition that agriculture must be harnessed to improve nutrition and health. (more)

Rival Guinea candidates make power-sharing pledge
11 October 2010 - Guinea's two rival Presidential candidates have agreed to include each other in government whoever wins a delayed 24 October runoff aimed at returning the country to civilian rule, a senior minister said on Monday. State Minister and Presidency Secretary-General Tibou Kamara said the accord, which could set the stage for a form of national unity government, came after a series of meetings between the candidates and junta leader Sekouba Konate. (more)

Turnout high as coup-prone Guinea votes in peace
27 June 2010 - Polling wound down peacefully in Guinea on Sunday in a landmark election offering voters their first chance to freely choose a leader since the coup-prone West African state won independence from France in 1958. 'Voting is peaceful, orderly, and there is a sense of excitement,' Yakubu Gowon, the former Nigerian leader heading the observation mission of US-based rights group the Carter Center, told reporters, estimating turnout at 75-80 per cent. (more)

Guinea: Voters hopeful as first free election held
26 June 2010 - The powerful leader of Guinea's military junta vowed to ensure this West African nation's first-ever free election on Sunday is fair and transparent, warning a roomful of presidential hopefuls they must help avert violence or risk casting the nation back to its volatile past. General Sekouba Konate, along with all members of his junta and a transitional governing council comprised of civilians are barred from running in the vote, which many hope will go down in history as the nation's first truly independent poll since independence from France in 1958. (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Scale of Guinea's Ebola epidemic unprecedented: aid agency
31 March 2014 - Guinea faces an Ebola epidemic on an unprecedented scale as it battles to contain confirmed cases now scattered across several locations that are far apart, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Monday. The warning from an organization with experience of tackling Ebola in Central Africa comes after Guinea's president appealed for calm as the number of deaths linked to an outbreak on the border with Liberia and Sierra Leone hit 80. The outbreak of one of the world's most lethal infectious diseases has spooked a number of governments with weak health systems, prompting Senegal to close its border with Guinea and other neighbors to restrict travel and cross-border exchanges. Figures released overnight by Guinea's health ministry showed that there had been 78 deaths from 122 cases of suspected Ebola since January, up from 70. Of these, there were 22 laboratory-confirmed cases of Ebola, the ministry said. 'We are facing an epidemic of a magnitude never before seen in terms of the distribution of cases in the country,' said Mariano Lugli, coordinator of MSF's project in Conakry. The organization said it had been involved in nearly all other recent Ebola outbreaks, mostly in remote parts of central African nations, but Guinea is now fighting to contain the disease in numerous locations, some of which are hundreds of kilometres apart. (more)

Surge in cocaine trade undermines President's bid to revive Guinea
31 January 2014 - A surge in cocaine trafficking has transformed Guinea into West Africa's latest drug hot spot, jeopardizing President Alpha Conde's efforts to rebuild state institutions after a military coup and attract billion of dollars in mining investment. Locals and Latin Americans long-accused of smuggling are operating freely in the country, some with high-level protection from within Conde's administration, according to Guinean and international law enforcement officials and internal police reports seen by Reuters. The growth of trafficking was overlooked as diplomats focused on securing a fragile transition back to civilian rule after the 2008 putsch. Counter-narcotics agents from the United States and other countries, meanwhile, concentrated on smugglers in neighbouring Guinea-Bissau, a tiny former Portuguese colony dubbed by crime experts Africa's first 'narco-state'. However, the US State Department's 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report said seizures in Guinea and cases abroad traced back there show a spike in trafficking since Conde won power at a 2010 election. (more)

Guinea opposition decries 'appalling' poll fraud
30 September 2013 - Guinea's opposition said Monday that 'appalling' fraud committed during the West African nation's legislative poll would make it difficult to accept the results, raising the possibility of a turbulent postelection period. The vote over the weekend was intended to complete Guinea's transition to democracy after decades of dictatorship and strongman rule. It had been delayed by nearly two years because of disputes over how it would be conducted that led to deadly protests as recently as last week. On Monday night, opposition leaders attended an emergency meeting as the electoral commission prepared to announce provisional results on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters afterward, opposition politician Sidya Toure said the vote had been marred by ballot-stuffing, vote-tampering, and the creation of more than 50 fake polling stations. 'Our conclusion today is appalling. There has been tampering of every kind,' Toure said. 'In Conakry, the government is about to proclaim fraudulent results.' (more)

Death toll from ethnic clashes in Guinea hits 98
24 July 2013 - Three days of ethnic violence in Guinea last week left 98 people dead, nearly double the previous death toll, the government said on Wednesday. The violence erupted on 14 July after a man accused of being a thief was lynched. It took place during tense preparations for long-delayed elections meant to restore civilian rule after a 2008 military coup. 'We are today at around 100 dead -- 76 victims in (Guinea's second largest city) Nzerekore and 22 others in Koule,' government spokesman Damantang Albert Camara said. The fighting began shortly after rival political parties agreed to hold legislative elections on 24 September after months of deadlock and street protests which often degenerated into ethnic clashes. (more)

Ethnic clashes erupt in Guinea capital
1 March 2013 - Rival gangs fought with knives and truncheons in Guinea's crumbling seaside capital on Friday as ethnic tensions worsened ahead of an election in the unstable West African nation, witnesses said. Security forces in full anti-riot gear piled into the backs of pick-up trucks and deployed across Conakry to separate the fighters as President Alpha Conde's government appealed for calm. Residents in other areas fled in panic as the gangs from rival ethnic groups roamed the streets, according to witnesses. The long-delayed legislative vote, tentatively set for May, is needed to complete a transition to civilian rule after a 2008 military coup. But preparations for the poll have been hampered by opposition claims the government is seeking to rig the outcome in advance, leading to a political impasse and sparking sporadic street protests that often turn violent. Politics in Guinea are mainly drawn along ethnic lines with the opposition coalition broadly supported by members of the Peul ethnicity -- the country's biggest ethnic group -- and the government supported by the Malinke. (more)

Guinea: Ethnic riots spread in capital
21 September 2012 - At least one person was killed on Friday, as ethnic riots pitting the Peul and the Malinke, the two largest ethnicities in the country, spread from a market in Conakry, to the suburbs of the Guinean capital, according to witnesses and the Red Cross. Tensions between the two groups have been running high ever since the 2010 Presidential election, which was won by Malinke politician Alpha Conde. He defeated a Peul candidate, and the vote was overwhelmingly carried out along ethnic lines. Since coming to power, Conde is accused of favouring his ethnic group in appointments to government ministries, all the way down to the guards and janitors. (more)

Guinea: state of emergency after post-poll riots
17 November 2010 - Guinea's military on Wednesday declared a state of emergency, further restricting civilian movement and giving the army permission to deploy in civilian areas as security forces continued to target members of the Peul ethnic group following a tense presidential election. The decree read on state TV by the head of the country's armed forces said the law would be in effect until Guinea's Supreme Court rules on whether to validate the provisional results from the election. The ethnic tension has already sparked clashes in neighbouring Sierra Leone where police arrested 20 people for rioting following clashes between Peul and Malinke, said Assistant Inspector General of Police Sorie Kargbo. Guinea borders Sierra Leone and Liberia, nations recovering from wars fuelled by ethnic divisions. For decades Guinea was a counterpoint to these two nations, with Peul and Malinke not only living side-by-side but also frequently intermarrying. (more)

Guinea vote starts spiral into dissent
10 November 2010 - The optimism and pride that marked Guinea's first democratic election has faded even before the votes are tallied, as early results show the two candidates are neck-and-neck, prompting both sides to accuse the other of fraud and heightening tension in a nation that has never chosen its leader freely. At the headquarters of candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo's party, officials were busy crafting legal briefs calling for results to be annulled from provinces where their constituents had not voted in large numbers. And inside the air-conditioned office of politician Alpha Conde, party bosses waved a piece of paper they said proved that more than the registered number of voters had cast ballots in a precinct favourable to their opponent. The closeness of the vote and the increasingly accusatory rhetoric of the two sides mark the beginnings of a dangerous standoff that could spill over into the street. (more)

UN: At least 1,800 of Guinea's Peul forced to flee
28 October 2010 - Thousands of Guineans from the Peul ethnic group have been forced to flee their homes in ethnic clashes ahead of the country's upcoming Presidential election, officials said Thursday, overshadowing a looming poll in a country that has never succeeded in freely electing its leader. The Peul have been chased out of towns in the country's north by Malinke supporters of Conde in a tit-for-tat fight following rumours that Peul businessmen tried to serve tainted water sachets at a Conde rally last Friday. The violence spread from the capital, where Conde's party said at least 160 of their supporters became intoxicated after drinking the water sachets, to the towns surrounding Kankan in the country's far north, which is a stronghold of Conde's party. Peul businesses were set on fire and looted. (more)

Violence halts Guinea presidential campaigns
12 September 2010 - Presidential campaigns in Guinea have been temporarily suspended after violence between rival campaign supporters left one person dead, a government official said Sunday. Telecommunications Minister Talide Diallo also said 54 people were wounded when rival political parties clashed after a campaign event in the capital Saturday. That figure more than doubles previous estimates of 24 wounded people. He said rallies and campaigning are suspended but that elections in the tiny West African nation will be held as scheduled on 19 September. The violence and its aftermath are signs of escalating tension ahead of next week's historic election, which many had hoped would mark a turning point for the troubled country that has known only authoritarian rule since winning independence from France in 1958. Each party blamed the other for starting the battles. (more)