GUINEA: Guinea's general strike will end within 48 hours after President Lansana Conte agreed to choose a new premier from a list proposed by opponents

Record ID: 340153

  • Title: GUINEA: Guinea's general strike will end within 48 hours after President Lansana Conte agreed to choose a new premier from a list proposed by opponents
  • Date: 26th February 2007
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (French) FATOU DIA, UNION MEMBER, SAYING: ''Today is the all people's victory, mainly the youth and the children and especially the women.''
  • Embargoed: 13th March 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Guinea
  • Country: Guinea
  • Topics: Economic News,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVALMNS99PQIGJDNA8AHPT2HRSP
  • Story Text: A general strike in Guinea is to end after President Lansana Conte agreed to demands to choose a new prime minister from a list proposed by opponents, West African mediators said.

    The regional economic bloc ECOWAS brokered Sunday's (February 25) deal to end the work stoppage that has gripped the world's top exporter of bauxite, the ore used to make aluminium, since February 12 after an earlier strike in January.
    The deal was struck after several days of intense negotiations conducted by ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) mediators led by former Nigerian President Ibrahima Babangida.
    Opponents had accused Conte, a reclusive diabetic in his 70s, of being unfit to rule. The strikes since January have triggered clashes with security forces. More than 120 people have been killed, most of them unarmed civilians.
    "The president has agreed to name a new, consensus, prime minister ... The unions have decided to suspend the strike call across the whole national territory and they urge workers to go back to work on Tuesday, February 27," said a statement read to reporters by ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohamed Ibn Chambas.
    The deal was sealed when Conte dropped a previous refusal and agreed to pick a new prime minister from a list of names drawn up by union leaders and civil society representatives. It required Conte to make his choice by March
    ECOWAS urged all sides to abide by the deal.
    The breakthrough followed the lifting of martial law at midnight on Friday (February 23) after Guinea's parliament refused a request from the president to extend a state of emergency to prevent street protests.
    Union leader Ibrahima Fofana called on authorities to free people arrested for backing the strike or defying martial law.
    Before Friday, martial law had been lifted on February 16 in bauxite and aluminium mining towns to allow the resumption of the country's leading export and economic lifeblood.
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