mr president president lansana conté was the archetypal african strong man a corrupt dictator who ruled the people of guinea with an iron fist
in fact guinea has never enjoyed true democracy in its half-century of independence
the death of mr conté offered an opportunity for guinea to turn the page but any hopes of transition to genuine democracy were extinguished by the military coup
predictably the african union's response to the coup has been lamentably lacklustre
the au cannot expect to be taken seriously internationally while it continues to prevaricate and procrastinate
why should we in the west go to such lengths to address this issue when african governments appear so indifferent
the eu should consider invoking the provisions of the cotonou agreement relating to sanctions
captain camara and the coup leaders need to understand that the eu expects certain basic standards of governance in return for a trade-and-aid relationship
guinea's only path to prosperity is through democratic civilian government
