Guinea News

South Africa is investigating reports its nationals have been hired to train a force for Guinea's military junta, Government said, pointing to fears of violence in the world's top bauxite exporter.

The United States is "deeply concerned" by reports that South African "military instructors" are training militiamen backed by the ruling junta in Guinea, a US official said Thursday.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged three investigators to work "independently to assess the facts" that led to the deaths of scores of people who demonstrated against the government in Guinea in September.

The recent upheaval in Guinea has thrown into question the status of toxic chemicals discovered earlier this year at several sites throughout the capital Conakry, according to UN experts.

By Peter Fabricius Foreign Editor Several South Africans, led by a former SA Police Service officer, are working for a Dubai-based security company in Guinea, providing protection and training to the military junta which seized power in a December coup and has been ostracised by African organisations, security sources say.

South African and Israeli army instructors, hired by the ruling Guinea junta, are training pro-junta recruits in a camp in Forecariah , witnesses said.

A Guinean court has charged a second son of the late President Lansana Conte with drug trafficking.

The Department of International Relations is investigating reports that another group of South African mercenaries are in Guinea-Conakry. The reports from the French media say the South Africans have been spotted training supporters of the military leader, Mousa Dadis Camara.

Health centre in the Gbessia Port area of Conakry UN agencies and NGOs are assisting the state health sector in the aftermath of the 28 September violence DAKAR, 12 November 2009 - Six weeks after the deadly military crackdown on civilians in Guinea, families are still searching for loved ones, the wounded continue to need medical care and aid ...

Captain Moussa Dadis Camara At mediation talks in neighboring Burkina Faso, Guinea's ruling military says there is no way their current leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, will relinquish his role in a transitional government.

By Peter Fabricius Foreign Editor The South African government is investigating reports that about 50 South African mercenaries are working for the military junta which seized power in Guinea late last year.

Now is the time for the people of Guinea to elect a democratic government of their choice, a senior U.S. State Department official told reporters October 30.

Photograph: Luc Gnago /Reuters Guinea 's military junta has imported millions of dollars worth of weapons in recent weeks, despite international sanctions imposed on the country after members of the presidential guard massacred at least 160 people at an opposition rally in September.

South African President Jacob Zuma will sign bilateral deals and inspect oil projects in Equatorial Guinea during a visit on Wednesday, the central African nation said in a statement.

Guinea's military junta has imported millions of dollars worth of weapons in recent weeks -- allegedly with the help of South African mercenaries -- despite international sanctions imposed on the country after the presidential guard massacred 160 people at an opposition rally in September.

Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore has chaired the first day of mediation talks in Ouagadougou between Guinea's military junta and other political groups.

In our series of viewpoints from African journalists, commentator and National Public Radio correspondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reflects on her conversations with survivors of a brutal crackdown on opposition supporters in Guinea.

CONAKRY, Guinea The man who led Guinea's most recent coup says he "bitterly regrets" the deaths of civilians who were gunned down by soldiers at a protest last month.

CONAKRY, Guinea - Tens of thousands of workers went on strike Wednesday to mark the one-month anniversary of a massacre in which troops fatally shot pro-democracy demonstrators and raped women in broad daylight, officials and workers said.

Three prominent jurists will form the international commission of inquiry to probe last month's violent crackdown on unarmed demonstrators in Guinea that led to the deaths of at least 150 people and the rape of many others, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today.