The international community appears to be laying the ground for a West African military intervention to prevent Guinea from sliding into war and destabilizing surrounding nations.
At the end of a meeting of the International Contact Group on Guinea in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on Sunday, the group issued a communiqué repeating an earlier call on the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to establish what it called "an international observation and security mission composed of civilians and the military to help provide security for the population and ensure the protection of institutions and key figures" in Guinea.
The communiqué was issued against the backdrop of an appeal by the president of the Ecowas Commission, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, at the beginning of the meeting for the "preventative deployment" of a force to protect civilians and provide humanitarian aid.
Agence France-Presse reported that Chambas warned that conflict in Guinea risked not only destabilizing that country, but "undermines all our efforts to consolidate peace in post-conflict countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Ivory Coast."
Since 1990, Ecowas has intervened militarily in a number of conflicts in the region, among them those in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau.
The International Contact Group on Guinea comprises institutions including Ecowas, the African Union, the European Union, the United Nations and the current members of the UN Security Council, among them the United States, Britain, France, Russia, Libya and Nigeria.
It said in its communiqué that there is currently a "rapid deterioration" in the security, humanitarian and human rights situation in Guinea.
"Rogue elements within the security forces and criminal gangs" are "perpetrating violence and extortion, and spreading terror among the population and the diplomatic community," it said.
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It also highlighted:
• "the accumulation of weapons,"
• "the creation of militias and their training by mercenary instructors," and
• increased activities by "rogue economic entrepreneurs, drug and arms traffickers."
It said rifts within the military junta which seized power upon the death of long-time President Lansana Conté a year ago were worsening.
The incident in which the junta leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, was shot and injured "illustrates the fragility of the situation... and underscores the urgent need for new transitional institutions."
It called for a transitional authority, led by "a neutral, consensual and respected personality" and for the completion of preparations for legislative and presidential elections in the first half of next year.
Read the full text of the International Contact Group statement
