Guinea's military junta marked the first anniversary of takeover of power on Wednesday, with its interim leader vowing to end the political crisis by an early vote without promising to give up the rule, according to reports monitored here.
Defense Minister Sekouba Konate, who is currently at the helm of the junta, made a speech at a military camp in the capital Conakry, appealing for national reconciliation and an early presidential election to end the
political standoff between the junta and the opposition and with the international community.
The junta's No. 2 advocated the West African country's first free and democratic elections in history, falling short of pledging the regime's
departure from power, the key to a solution to the crisis and the root cause of the Sept. 28 clash, in which the United Nations said more than 150 people were killed by soldiers.
The world body on Monday accused the military junta of committing the anti-humanity crime in its Sept. 28 crackdown after weeks of a probe into the case.
Guinea's situation is complicated with junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara shot and wounded early in the month by his aide de camp, Aboubakar Toumba Diakite, who said Camara wanted to make him a scapegoat.
Konate, temporarily took over the leadership after Camara was flown to the Mohammad V Military Hospital in Rabat, Morocco. Although the junta has repeatedly said he is recovering and will soon return to Conakry, his condition remains a misery.
No breakthrough has been made in negotiating a power surrender to civilians since the international contact group on Guinea intensified its efforts after Camara left the country.
In the middle of the month, the group met with members of the ruling National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) in Guinea in
Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, trying to persuade it to honor the original commitment by Camara to take no part in the future elections and reach a compromise with the opposition.
Camara went back on his promise in August, triggering the bloody clash with the opposition.
During the Ouagadougou talks, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, president of the ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States) Commission, proposed the deployment of an intervention force to Guinea to protect the civilian population and prevent the crisis from spilling over into neighboring countries.
While the CNDD delegation agreed that "the discussions will continue and at an opportune time," the opposition expressed hope that "this will be an occasion of solving all the problems once and for all so that we can get the country out of the crisis."
The military led by Camara took power on Dec. 23, 2008 hours after the death of then president Lansana Conte, who also launched a coup d'etat following the death of Sekou Toure in 1984.
Guinea is under international and regional sanctions for its return to democracy and the constitutional order.