Military Unit Seizes Power in Guinea, Suspends Constitution

The fate of Guinea’s President Alpha Condé is unclear after an unverified video showed him in the hands of soldiers, who said they had seized power.

They appeared on national TV claiming to have dissolved the government.

However, the defence ministry said the attempted takeover had been thwarted by the presidential guard.

This follows hours of heavy gunfire near the presidential palace in the capital, Conakry.

The TV address featured nine unnamed soldiers, several draped in the red, gold and green national flag, who said they had taken over because of rampant corruption, mismanagement and poverty.

Calling themselves the National Committee for Reconciliation and Development, they said the constitution had been dissolved and that there would be consultations to create a new, more inclusive one.

Numerous reports say the coup was led by an elite unit headed by a former French legionnaire, Lt Col Mamady Doumbouya.

In one video, which the BBC has not been able to verify, soldiers ask President Condé, 83, to confirm he is unharmed but he refuses to respond.

Sitting barefoot on a sofa wearing jeans and a printed shirt, he does not have any visible injuries.

Those behind the coup said that all land and air borders had been closed for a week.

However, according to the defence ministry, forces loyal to the president have “contained the threat and repelled the group of assailants”.

Earlier, the only bridge connecting the mainland to the Kaloum peninsular, which houses most ministries and the presidential palace, was sealed off while many soldiers, some heavily armed, were posted around the palace, a military source told Reuters news agency.

There are unconfirmed reports that three soldiers have been killed.

President Condé was re-elected for a controversial third term in office amid violent protests last year.

The tumult in Guinea comes about three months after military officials in neighboring Mali carried out a second coup d’etat in less than a year.

The Malian military official who ousted both presidents, Col. Assimi Goïta, had attended several U.S. military training events on American and West African soil.

Doumbouya, who has led Guinea’s special forces since 2018, also participated in a U.S. exercise in Mauritania two years ago focused on fighting terrorism. He praised the “sharing experience” in a 2019 interview.

Guinea’s military last grabbed power in 2008 after the death of President Lansana Conté, the country’s second leader in the post-colonial era — an army officer who’d led the country with an authoritarian fist since the mid-1980s.

Conté himself had seized control in a coup backed by Guinea’s troops.