Guinea’s Exiled Leader Hands Power to Deputy

Guinea's exiled military leader has agreed to handover to his deputy, further raising prospects of an imminent return to civilian rule.

Announcing the new arrangement brokered by Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaore in Ouagadougou, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara urged Guineans to support their new interim leader, General Sekouba Kounate, and assured his supporters that the decision had not been imposed on him.

Camara took power in a December 2008 coup, and was shot last December in an attempted assassination.

Guinea’s new interim leader Konate has promised to form a transitional government that includes opposition parties and has pledged to hold elections within the next six months. [PE]