The army gathers ministers after a coup

Guinean President Alpha Conde was arrested in a military coup on Sunday, according to an army statement that said he had dissolved the government and imposed a curfew in the country.

According to a statement, the country’s rulers and other senior officials will be replaced by the military.

A spokesman for the coup plotters said on television that the country had opened its borders by land and air for commercial and humanitarian reasons.

shooting

However, much remains unclear about the course of events. On Sunday, a video was posted of President Alpha Conde sitting on a sofa surrounded by soldiers. In the video, he refuses to respond when a soldier asks if he has been mistreated.

The leader of the coup plotters, Mamady Domboya, appeared on television holding the Guinean flag and said “misrule” had led to the coup.

“We will no longer entrust politics to a man, but rather entrust politics to the people,” he said.

Residents near the government district in the capital, Conakry, said they heard gunfire on Sunday.

criticism

The coup led to intense international criticism. The seizure was condemned by the United Nations, as well as by the African Union and the West African Cooperation bloc ECOWAS.

The US State Department says future prospects for stability and prosperity are deteriorating.

“These actions may limit the ability of the United States and other Guinean international partners to support the country,” it added in a statement.

Guinea is one of the poorest countries in the world and has long been politically unstable.