Reports from Conkary, the capital of Guinea, state that the city is extremely tense following the coup attempt last Friday in which junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara was shot in the head by one of his own bodyguards Lieutenant Aboubacar Sidiki Diakité Toumba (photo), a member of the notorious "berets rouges" or red berets of the Guinean army. Dadis is currently in a Moroccan military hospital where he is said to be slowly recovering.
Meanwhile his second in command, defence minister Sekouba Konate is running things in the troubled West African country. Last Sunday the junta announced that anybody that could give information about Toumba, on the run since Friday, will receive a huge financial reward. Nobody has yet come forward although there are rumours that Toumba is holed up in the French embassy in Conakry, a claim a French embassy official has vigorously denied.
Three soldiers, alleged to be Toumba’s accomplices, have so far been arrested: Two at Pamelap, on the Sierra Leone border and one at Forecariah. They are: Master Sergeant Mohamed 2 Camara alias Beugre, former commander of the Koundara barracks, where Dadis was shot. Beugre was arrested at Forecariah.
The others, arrested at Pamelap as they tried to escape into Sierra Leone, are: Second Lieutenant Mohamed Soumah and Lieutenant Mabinty Sylla, alias Magie. Guinean human rights activists say the three were severely beaten and tortured after their arrest. Toumba Diakite is said to be one of the berets rouges that carried out the September 28, 2009 massacre of 160 protesters in Conakry.
Watch this space for developments.
Photo credit: Guinee24.com.
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