Guinea - stadium killings

Burkina Faso leader in Nigeria for talks

Article published on the 2009-11-16 Latest update 2009-11-16 17:24 TU

President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso
(Photo: Wikipedia)

Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré was in Nigeria on Monday for talks with Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua. They were to discuss a resolution to the crisis in Guinea. Correspondent Ben Shemang says Compaoré “met with civil society organisations, met with the opposition, met with military representatives,” but that they remain “so divided”.

Compaoré is helping to mediate the resolution of the crisis and is to meet Yar’Adua on Monday, who currently holds the chairmanship of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).

According to correspondent Ben Shemang, Compaoré “met with civil society organisations, met with the opposition, met with military representatives,” but they did not make much progress, and remain “so divided”.

On 28 September Guinean troops opened fired at a rally in Conakry, where demonstrators were protesting against any possible participation of junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara in the January presidential polls.

Around 150 people died and more than 1,000 were injured, and some human rights groups have said the killings were premeditated.

But it did not silence calls for Camara to step down and the opposition still want an interim administration put in place.

However, Shemang told RFI that the military is, “insisting that they cannot step down, in fact the Foreign Affairs minister [Alexandre Cécé Loua] is saying that if Dadis Camara steps down there is going to be war”.

Shemang believes that it is, “going to take the grace of God for us to have some kind of successful talks,” despite the fact that Ecowas is insisting that “Dadis must not contest [the elections]”.

Compaoré will meet with both sides on Wednesday in the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou.