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E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2017 
TAGS:                
SUBJECT: SITREP NO. 29: GUINEA GENERAL STRIKE, FEB. 10, 
1130 GMT 
 
REF: CONAKRY 160 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: DCM Julie Winn. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
This marks a resumption of Guinea sitreps suspended on 
January 29. 
 
----------------------- 
SITUATION ON THE GROUND 
----------------------- 
 
 1.  (C) The security climate in Guinea is highly volatile and 
unpredictable following the appointment late February 9 of 
Eugene Camara as Prime Minister.  After a night marked by 
sporadic rock-throwing and a brief early morning lull, the 
city has been hit with widespread protests and disturbances. 
These have taken place in the usual hotspots of Bambeto, 
Hamdallaye, Taouyah, and Donka, as well as in the Conakry 
suburbs.  For the first time, the Autoroute, a primary 
artery, has been blocked as well.  In many cases, students 
arriving at school for the usual Saturday classes were turned 
away by their teachers, told that the schools were closed. 
These young people, joined by non-students, are participating 
in various activities, from peaceful marching to more violent 
blockades, rock-throwing and tire-burning.  The common chant 
and demand is "Change."  We have unconfirmed reports that 
Lansana Conte's convoy was stoned as it passed through the 
outer suburbs, and he was forced to return to town this 
morning. 
 
 2.  (C) The troubles, despite their severity, appear as 
pockets surrounded by calmer areas, and they do not appear to 
be centrally organized in any way.  After a morning in which 
security forces were slow to respond, we understand that they 
are now beginning to engage and clear roads. Notably, there 
is no reinforced security presence at the Castro Bridge, 
which marks the beginning of the downtown area, and there are 
no reports of any significant trouble in that area.  There is 
almost no vehicular traffic, and most stores are closed. 
 
 3.  (C) There are also protests and, in some cases, violence, 
in some interior towns, including Kankan, Siguiri, Kouroussa, 
and Faranah.  An LES employee has contacted mayors in those 
town who say that the prefets (appointed representatives of 
the central government) have left town.  The mayors, who feel 
relatively safe because they are locally elected, say that 
protesters have sacked and/or burned the prefets' offices and 
some gendarmeries.  The security authorities in these town 
are not intervening.  A Siguiri contact told our FSN that 
some soldiers were dropping their arms and marching with the 
people.  In the meantime, Labe, Mamou and N'Zerekore have 
seen peaceful demonstrations this morning.  These 
developments follow significant disturbances Feb. 8-9 in the 
interior town of Dingueraye, where a crowd of 3-4000 burned 
local offices, and in Coyah, near Conakry, where students 
angry over transport costs flashed over to violence when a 
local official trying to calm them mentioned President Conte. 
 
 4.  (C) The U.S. Mission has returned to full standfast, with 
most personnel instructed to remain at their residences until 
further notice.  We have cleared a similar warden message 
with the Department and have disseminating it. 
 
---------------- 
POLITICAL UPDATE 
---------------- 
 
 5.  (C) The political temperature has been rising over the 
last ten days as the population anxiously awaited the 
appointment of a new prime minister "of consensus."  After 
days of speculation over whether and when Conte would make 
the appointment, the suspense ended evening of February 9 
with a decree naming Eugene Camara.  Camara an ethnic Guerze 
from the Forest Region, has most recently (over the last 
three weeks) been Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, 
replacing former Conte confidant Fode Bangoura.  Prior to 
that, he was Minister of Plan for several years.  He has also 
served as Minister of Higher Education and as Governor of the 
Forest Region.  We have no information to suggest he is 
corrupt. He is a low profile figure, whose primary weakness 
appears to be his identification with the Conte regime, with 
which he has been associated for more than ten years -- 
anathema to the unions and the general public at this point. 
 
 6.  (C) While the unions have not yet formally rejected 
 
CONAKRY 00000162  002 OF 002 
 
 
Camara, early interviews suggest that they may, and his 
appointment was met with an immediate declaration of outrage 
on the part of the major civil society confederation here, 
CNOSCG.  Most importantly, the buzz on the "street" was 
immediately negative.  One union official told poloff this 
morning that the union leadership would meet at noon local 
time to review Camara's dossier, to see whether there was any 
chance he could be acceptable.  Head of the teachers union 
M'Bembah Soumah, however, was categoric with us that his 
organization had already decided against.  (Note: M'Bembah 
also said that he had not told teachers to shut down the 
school; that was spontaneous on their part and something he 
deplored since it made a bad situation worse.)  What is clear 
is that the unions' decision pro or con has, at this point, 
little to do with what the street believes -- or does. 
 
 
----------------- 
DIPLOMATIC UPDATE 
----------------- 
 
 7.  (C) By coincidence, Ambassador McDonald and other Western 
Ambassadors, including those of Germany, France, the UK and 
the EU, had already set an appointment for morning of 
February 10 with Eugene Camara in his capacity as Minister of 
State for Presidential Affairs.  The purpose of this rare 
joint demarche was to deliver a strong message against the 
use of lethal force by the security forces against civilians; 
any such use of lethal force would call down international 
opprobrium.  Prime Minister Camara responded that he had a 
track records as a man of dialogue and would do all within 
his power to prevent further killing.  Further details of 
this meeting will be provided septel. 
 
 8.  (C) Following his meeting with the Prime Minister, the 
Ambassador returned to his resident because road conditions 
between there and the Embassy do not permit safe passage.  He 
is in continuous phone contact with DCM, who is at the 
Embassy. 
 
---------------- 
SECURITY POSTURE 
---------------- 
 
 9.  (C)  Post remains on Authorized Departure status for 
eligible family members.  The six dependents (two spouses and 
four children) who left the weekend of January 27 remain the 
only dependents to have taken the opportunity to leave.  We 
anticipate that should the security situation remain this 
volatile, requiring the closure again of the International 
School, at least one additional family (one spouse and two 
children) will request departure. We have no reports of 
American citizens injured or in trouble at this time. 
 
 10.  (C) The Mission has its fuel reserves topped off, and 
our wells provide sufficient water.  The airport was open 
this morning for a flight.  Our A/PAO returned early in the 
morning from a TDY to Ouagadougou, and two USAID employees 
departed.  However, since the early morning, the streets 
leading to the airport have been consistently blocked.  We 
are seeking to determine whether Air France will meet its 
regularly scheduled Saturday evening flight today. 
 
 11.  (C) We will continue to monitor the situation closely. 
MCDONALD