State of emergency imposed in Guinea after ethnic clashes

State of emergency imposed in Guinea after ethnic clashes

2010-11-18 20:29:06 GMT+7 (ICT)

CONAKRY, GUINEA (BNO NEWS) -- A state of emergency was declared in Guinea on Thursday following ethnic clashes that left at least nine dead on Tuesday and Wednesday in the wake of presidential elections, local media reported.

According to local officials, the state of emergency, including an overnight curfew, will remain in place until election results are confirmed by the country's supreme court.

Earlier this week preliminary results showed opposition candidate Alpha Condé won the first free presidential elections in the West Africa country.

Condé received 52.5 percent of the votes while his challenger, former Prime Minister Cellou Diallo, obtained 47.5 percent. This numbers represent that Condé received about 1.47 million votes while Diallo got 1.3 million votes.

Shortly after the results were announced, supporters of Diallo went to the streets to protest against the results which Diallo said were marred with a massive voting fraud and accused Guinea police forces of savage brutality.

During Monday and Tuesday riots, two individuals were killed and dozens more were injured. Guinean forces have been accused of using excessive force against Diallo's supporters and members of his Fulani ethnic group.

The former Prime Minister appealed the decision to the Supreme Court which has to confirm the election results.

The presidential elections was seen as Guinea's first democratic vote since independence in 1958, raising hopes of an end to military and authoritarian rule in the mineral-rich country that was established after the death of long-time leader Lansana Conte in December 2008.

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