Camara backs Guinea’s interim ruler

Moussa Dadis Camara, Guinea’s former military leader, has backed a plan to appoint a transitional government, and says he will not seek to reclaim power.

Camara, who is convalescing in neighbouring Burkina Faso, was speaking in public for the first time since he was injured in an assassination attempt in December.

“I signed in full confidence … for a rapid exit from the crisis,” Camara said on Sunday, referring to an agreement signed on January 15 in which he undertook to remain in Burkina Faso rather than return to Guinea and reclaim power.

The agreement calls on General Sekouba Konate, Camara’s deputy, to act as
interim leader and help organise elections that will hand power to a civilian government in six months time.

Democratic elections

Neither members of the military government, nor members of the transitional
government, will be allowed to stand in the presidential elections demanded by the international community.

“The question of my non-candidature, and that of the other members of the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) … is definitively settled,” Camara said.

The 46-year-old Camara was shot in the head by his aide-de-camp in early
December and rushed to Morocco for emergency surgery. He was moved to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, last week.

Camara said his “life is no longer in danger, but … I need to rest,” and gave no details on how long he would stay in Burkina Faso.

Camara’s CNDD sparked a political crisis when it took power in a military coup in December 2008.

The crisis deepened when security forces killed more than 150 people at a pro-democracy march in September, a massacre for which the UN said Camara was responsible.