Guinea's long-time military leader Conte dies

Guinea's President Lansana Conte, who ruled the West African nation with an iron fist for 24 years, has died aged 74, National Assembly Speaker Aboubacar Sompare told state television early Tuesday. In power since 1984, the ailing Conte, who relied on the army to put down growing discontent, was a chain smoker who suffered from chronic diabetes and was at one time diagnosed with leukemia. "We regret to announce to the people of Guinea the death of General Lansana Conte , after a long illness, at 6:45 pm," Sompare said.

Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare and armed forces chief of staff General Diarra Camara then confirmed the news on television. Sompare officially asked the president of the supreme court to declare the presidency vacant and to apply the constitution. If the supreme court rules that there is a vacancy in the top job, the speaker of the assembly takes over temporarily and has to organize a presidential election within 60 days.

Lansana Conte, a career soldier, came to power through a coup d'etat on April 3, 1984, one week after the death of Guinea's first president, Ahmed Sekou Toure. Top officials of the regime met overnight in the capital Conakry to discuss a successor to Conte, a source close to the presidential palace said. Among the officials meeting in emergency session at the People's Palace, seat of the national assembly, were Prime Minister Souare, Sompare, the president of the supreme court and military leaders. "All the members of the government were asked to go to the People's Palace," a minister told AFP.

Last week government spokesman Tibou Kamara had scolded "bearers of false reports" speculating about the president's state of health. Conte, who told AFP last year "I am the boss, others are my subordinates," has undergone frequent hospital treatments abroad.

Source: AFP

COLONEL IS NAMED GUINEAN PRESIDENT

An army colonel, Col. Lansana Conte, 39 years old, pledged to reverse the ''harm'' done by President Ahmed Sekou Toure. In a broadcast interview, Colonel Conte denounced racism, which he said ''had been more accentuated'' in Guinea than elsewhere in Africa. He said the military would insure that all citizens ''have the same rights and the same responsibilities.'' Mr. Toure's Government had been dominated by members of his Malinke ethnic group.

Diplomats said the new Government appeared to be well balanced among the various tribes. Colonel Conte said the problem of human rights ''will be our principal problem because since our independence 26 years ago we have lived under a regime where there was no right of expression, where a person did not have the right to say what he wants.'' The new leadership has accused Mr. Toure of rights violations. In the 1960's and 70's, the Government arrested and imprisoned thousands of people. Many others disappeared or were executed.

A recent State Department report said the number of political prisoners had been ''considerably reduced over the past several years.'' ''The old regime died with President Ahmed Sekou Toure, whom we have praised for having led us to independence but that is all,'' the colonel said. ''Now that we have succeeded in taking his place, we are obliged to banish all the harm he has done.''

Throughout Conakry, portraits of Mr. Toure were being removed or defaced. In some places the image had been roughly scratched off or painted over and the slogan ''Down with corruption!'' scrawled nearby. Flags that had been at half-staff after Mr. Toure's death were raised. Hundreds of jubilant schoolchildren, led by adults, paraded through the streets, singing, beating drums and blowing whistles. Some automobiles bore handpainted signs reading, ''Long live the military! Long live the Republic of Guinea!'' Under the former Government, the title was the People's Revolutionary Republic of Guinea.

Several times during the day, Colonel Conte and other officials drove through the city in a motorcade, led by soldiers on motorcycles. Crowds cheered and waved as the motorcade passed. Asked why he was cheering, one Guinean replied, ''Because we have been liberated.'' There was no word on the fate of members of the ousted Government. On Wednesday a military spokesman said only that senior officials had been put ''under security.''

A radio announcement ordered any officials who had not yet reported to the new authorities to do so immediately. Several radio reports also said the coup had been accomplished ''with no bloodletting and without exchanges of gunfire.'' However, a communique issued today by the ruling Military Committee for National Rectification said that the new leadership ''is attentively following the movements of a small group of people who, in connivance with some foreign embassies in the capital, are planning to do harm.'' A well-placed official said the allusion was to the Moroccan Embassy. Moroccan leaders had close relations with Mr. Toure, members of his Government and family. Colonel Conte did not elaborate on the economic policy changes being contemplated. A communique issued Wednesday pledged to encourage free enterprise.

Source: New York Times

GUINEA'S MILITARY ASSUMES CONTROL; SEALS OFF NATION

The armed forces of Guinea said today that they had seized power in that West African nation a week after the death of President Ahmed Sekou Toure ended what they called a ''bloody and ruthless dictatorship.'' The armed forces did not say what had happened to Government officials and the 14 members of the ruling Political Bureau, who were to have met today to choose a successor to Mr. Toure. Mr. Toure, who died March 26 in the Cleveland Clinic while having heart surgery, was black Africa's longest-serving head of state. He had led his nation, one of the world's leading producers of bauxite, since independence from France in October 1958.

The military dissolved the ruling Guinean Democratic Party, Parliament and all mass organizations, suspended the constitution, imposed a curfew from 10 P.M. to 6 A.M., closed the airport and the country's borders, seized the radio and television stations and forbade communication with the rest of the world. A statement read by an unidentified military spokesman on the Conakry radio said the army had ''decided to take over the running of the country in order to lay the foundations of a true democracy, avoiding in the future any personal dictatorship.''

The statement said the coup took place ''without bloodshed, in complete calm and amid popular rejoicing.'' The spokesman also said a ''military redemption committee'' was running the country of 5.5 million people, and added: ''The Guinean people had not dried its tears, yet a tough struggle for the succession was under way amongst Sekou Toure's companions, whose hands are sullied with the blood of so many innocent people.''

Among Mr. Toure's closest associates was Prime Minister Louis Lansana Beavogui, 61 years old, a longtime friend and adviser, who had been expected to succeed him. The spokesman praised Mr. Toure's influence in Africa but said his domestic record was questionable. ''Under the feudal pressure of his family and dishonest companions of his early struggle, your hope for a more just and more equitable society disappeared, swept away by a bloody and ruthless dictatorship,'' he said. The radio said that the military had decided to free all political prisoners and that Guinea would respect all its international commitments.

Guineans were confined to their homes. ''There will be no work, no market and no traffic,'' the spokesman said, concluding, ''Long live the glorious people of Guinea.'' After a period in which Guinea turned to the Soviet Union for aid, Mr. Toure had in recent years increasingly emphasized that he was not tied to any bloc. The nation has exported its bauxite, the ore for aluminum, to both Western countries and the Soviet Union.

During Mr. Toure's rule, human rights organizations said thousands of Guineans were killed or jailed and almost a fifth of the population went into exile. Amnesty International has listed 2,900 people in Guinea who disappeared without a trace. Mr. Toure claimed to have thwarted more than a dozen coup attempts.

Source: New York Times

GUINEA'S PRESIDENT, SEKOU TOURE, DIES IN CLEVELAND CLINIC

Ahmed Sekou Toure, the President of Guinea for 26 years and a symbol of African independence and defiance, died Monday in a Cleveland heart clinic. He was 62 years old. A peasant's son who became a union leader before entering politics, Mr. Toure led his western African country to independence from France in 1958 and then served as its only President so far. Radio reports from Conakry, the capital, said the Guinean Prime Minister, 61-year-old Lansana Beavogui, had stepped in as ''acting President.'' But Western diplomats said they thought that Dr. Beavogui, who has been in fragile health, was unlikely to succeed Mr. Toure on a long-term basis.

Among those seen as likely contenders for power are Mamadi Keita, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and Isma"el Toure, Minister of Mines and Geology and younger brother of the late President. Covert, dissident and opposition groups are also known to exist within the country as well as in Paris, in Dakar, Senegal and here in Abidjan. But diplomats say they doubt whether these groups are either well organized or well equipped enough to assert themselves at this point.The Guinean leader dealt ruthlessly with opponents; thousands of people disappeared during purges in the 1970's, according to Amnesty International, the human rights organization. He attacked tribal, caste and religious loyalties in the largely Moslem country and nurtured a personality cult around himself.

It was estimated that 1.5 million or more Guineans, or about a third of the population, emigrated, mostly to nearby countries, during a period of iron rule and a declining economy. The People's Revolutionary Republic of Guinea, a former French colony in western Africa, was proclaimed an independent country on Oct. 2, 1958, four days after 95 percent of its voters decided in a referendum to leave the French Community. The leader of the Democratic Party of Guinea, Ahmed Sekou Toure, became President and his organization the only political party.

Guinea has an area of 94,926 square miles, about twice the size of New York State. According to a mid-1983 estimate, Guinea has a population of 5,430,000. Conakry, the capital, is a city of 525,000 inhabitants. Two-thirds of the population is Moslem, one-third animist. Besides French, eight African languages are taught in schools. Government The National Assembly, a one- chamber legislature, consists of 210 members elected for seven years, with all candidates nominated by the ruling Democratic Party. The President, who is also elected for seven years, appoints a Council of Ministers.

Guinea is one of the leading world producers of bauxite, which is exported to Western countries and to the Soviet Union. More than 80 percent of the people work in agriculture, where the cash crops are coffee, bananas, palm kernels, peanuts and pineapples.

The army, consisting of 8,500 men, is equipped with Soviet, Czechoslovak and Chinese weapons and armored cars. There is also a militia of 9,200 men. The navy, with 600 men, has a minesweeper and numerous coastal and other craft. The air force, with 800 men, is said to have 6 MIG-7 jet fighters, 2 MIG trainers, several transport planes and a few helicopters.

Source: New York Times