The Inquirer (Monrovia)
Patrick K. Wrokpoh
29 December 2008
Grand Cape Mount — President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has issued a stringent warning to Liberians not to get involved in the ongoing political crisis in neighboring Guinea.
The latest warning of the President came a week ago when army officers under the command of Captain Moussa Dadis Camara seized power after the death of long-time President Lansana Conte and a day after she returned from that country where she participated in the burial of the fallen Guinean President last Friday.
Speaking to Executive Mansion reporters over the weekend in Grand Cape Mount County where she went to participate in the wedding anniversary of her sister, President Sirleaf commented on a wide range of issues including the crisis in Guinea, and urged Liberians to stay away from the crisis in that country by not getting involved in what she termed "The Guinean People Internal Affairs."
President Sirleaf recalled that whenever she visits Guinea, she normally meet with the Liberian community in that country stressing that because of the current political situation she was not able to meet with them during her visit to that country last Friday to join her colleagues of the Mano River Union Basin for the funeral of the late President Conte.
She said nonetheless the current political situation in Guinea remains calm
stressing that in a directive to the Liberia's Ambassador to Guinea, she has urged Liberians to be calm and stay away from the crisis as her government looks forward to working with and welcoming all Liberian refugees in that country back home.
Asked to comment by this writer on what is the current military situation at the country's border with Guinea since the military junta seized power in that country, President Sirleaf expressed fear that what is obtaining in Guinea could have adverse effect not only on Liberia but other countries in the basin.
The Commanding-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), added that the government is trying to strengthen surveillance at its border with Guinea since the military take-over, although she admitted on the other hand that the border areas with Guinea are too long and remain porous.
"All we can do is to monitor the borders and we have alerted UNMIL as well," she said.
Addressing herself to the political crisis in Guinea, President Sirleaf, who is the current Chairman of the Mano River Union (MRU), iterated the stance of the organization for strict adherence to the constitutional process, which she noted was also in consonance with the position of the regional body ECOWAS.
The Liberian leader said now that ECOWAS was leading mediation in the political stalemate, it would only be prudent to wait and see what would come out of these negotiations.
She added that ECOWAS being a bigger body than the MRU, it should be given the chance and support to lead the mediation as all West Africans wait to see what arrangement would come out of the current efforts.
Meanwhile, the leader of Guinea's coup has said contracts for the country's vital mining industry will be reviewed and pledged to stamp out corruption.
Without naming firms, Capt Moussa Dadis Camara told a public meeting in Conakry that any contracts found to be "defective" would be revised.
Capt Camara took power after the death of President Lansana Conte on Monday.
A meeting between the junta and foreign envoys planned for Saturday has been postponed until next week.
The junta, which took over in a bloodless coup, has said it wishes to reassure the international community" of its commitment to stamping out corruption and holding elections in 2010.
Its seizure of power was condemned internationally but Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has urged the world community to recognise the new leadership.
Capt Camara addressed hundreds of public representatives, including trade unionists, politicians and clergy, at a meeting in his barracks, Camp Alpha Yaya Diallo, in what correspondents say was a charm offensive.
He outlined his view of the mining sector, which has attracted billions of dollars in investment from international firms.
"We have blocked the mining sector," he said. "There will be a renegotiation of contracts."
According to AFP news agency, he also suspended all gold extraction until further notice.
More than a third of the world's bauxite reserves are located in Guinea which also has large reserves of gold, diamonds, iron and nickel, and some uranium deposits.
Without naming names, Capt Camara vowed to eradicate corruption, saying: "It was the government officials who surrounded the [late] head of state who looted the country."
"Anyone found guilty of corruption will be punished," he added. "Anyone who has misappropriated state assets for his benefit, if caught, will be judged and punished before the people."
He also told those present that he was open to their "best ideas", including the choice of a new prime minister.
The coup leaders had been due to meet representatives from the UN, G8, European Union and African Union at 1200 GMT on Saturday but they postponed the meeting until Tuesday without explanation.
President Wade, however, publicly backed the coup, telling French radio: "My feeling is that this group of military men deserves support. We should not throw stones at them."
The coup appears to have been welcomed by many within the country, the BBC's West Africa correspondent Will Ross says.
Sick and tired of despotic rule under the former president and his hugely corrupt government, Guineans are pinning their hopes on the military, our correspondent says.
On Friday, tens of thousands of Guineans and presidents from the neighbouring states of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast attended the funeral of President Conte in Conakry.
Conte, who died aged 74, was later buried in front of his mansion in the village of Lansanaya, some 120km (75 miles) north-west of the capital.
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