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| International Contact Group on Guinea meets in Abuja
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Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) -
The International Contact Group on Guinea (ICG-G) was bi
lled to meet in Abuja, Nigeria,
Monday (12Oct) to discuss the security and political situation in Guinea, where
tension is high following the recent killing
of dozens of protesters by soldiers during a mass demonstration against alleged
plans by junta leader Capt. Moussa Dadis
Camara to participate in the forthcoming presidential elections.
The meeting, which is being hosted by the Economic Community of West African Sta
tes (ECOWAS) for the first time, is expected
to be briefed by the 'Facilitator' on the Guinea crisis, President Blaise Compao
re of Burkina Faso, who has already visited Conakry
to meet with the stakeholders.
ICG-G has held seven previous meetings in Conakry and on the sidelines of the Af
rican Union (AU) summit and the UN General Assembly in
New York, among others. But the influential group has never met at the seat of E
COWAS in the Nigerian capital.
At its seventh meeting in New York 22 Sept., the ICG-G expressed 'grave concern'
about the delay in Guinea's electoral process and the
continuing deterioration in the political, human rights and security situations
in the resource-rich West African nation.
The group urged Camara to reaffirm - through a formal document - his commitments
that neither he, the other members of the ruling junta nor
the Prime Minister would be candidates in the forthcoming presidential election.
Alleged moves by Camara to renege on his pledge not to contest the presidential
election triggered the tragic mass rally in Conakry.
Capt. Camara heads the military-dominated National Council for Democracy and Dev
elopment (CNDD), which took control of Guinea in
December following the death of long-serving President Lansana Conte.
Members of the ICG-G include AU, ECOWAS, UN, European Union, Mano River Union, C
EN-SAD,Libya (non-permanent member of the UN Security Council),Nigeria, Organisa
t
ion of Islamic Conference, Germany, Spain, Japan and four of the five permanent
m
embers of the UN Security Council (US, France, UK, Russia).
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| Abuja - 12/10/2009 |
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