The Guinean military junta ventured bold steps in the past week amid strong opposition voiced by the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS).
Coup leaders of Guinea, the member state of both African blocs, have managed a series of measures to strengthen controls since the Dec. 23 coup.
Among the latest, the military junta demoted 20 or so army generals while naming some ministers. On the list of retirement were army chief of staff Diarra Camara and the heads of the army, navy and air force.
The military chief did not sound in tune with Moussa Camara, who announced the coup and the dissolution of the government and the constitution, hours after the broadcast of the death of President Lansana Conte.
While the loyalist generals were removed, Camara named Kelety Faro the "secretary general minister for the presidency of the Republic" and Mamadouba Toto Camara the "minister of security and civilian protection."
Camara declared himself "the president of the Republic" one day after the coup. He was also named the head of a 32-member National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) , which is composed of 26 military officers and six civilians and acting as the de facto ruling body.
The busy post-coup schedule also included a "grandiose funeral" for Conte, a promise of presidential elections in December 2010, a dusk-to-morning curfew, a political consultation at the Alpha Yaya Diallo barracks and the suspension of all mining contracts for renegotiation.
Camara and his CNDD seemed in triumph when Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare led his team of government to the Alpha Yaya Diallobarracks on Thursday, surrendering to him after days of resistance.
But internationally, the military junta is shunned. On Monday, the AU suspended Guinea's membership to press for "the return to constitutional order in that country." Meanwhile, the ECOWAS reiterated its zero tolerance for the coup in Guinea, rejecting the two-year transition set by the military junta.
But the ECOWAS "remains engaged with" the CNDD to "bring about short transition" without "military face," according to a statement released by the regional group.
It also said the ECOWAS delegation in Guinea found that the country was calm, recommending continued peace and security "so that the people of Guinea do not suffer" from violence, killing and harassment.
The United Nations, the European Union and the United States have also used strong wording for a quick return to the civilian rule.
The EU demands a "democratic and transparent election" in the "first quarter of 2009," while the United States threatened to withhold financial aid to Guinea unless the transitional period is shortened.
Guinea won independence from France in 1958. Rich in mineral resources such as bauxite, gold and iron ore, the world's top bauxite exporter and the second biggest producer attracts billions of dollars in mining investments from foreign firms, including RioTinto Alcan, Alcoa and Russia's United Company Rusal.
The country of 9.56 million, however, was placed the 160th of 177 countries in the development survey by the United Nations.
Source: Xinhua
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