Agenzia Fides

Conakry (Agenzia Fides) - On the occasion of the celebrations for the 53rd anniversary of national independence, the President of Guinea, Alpha Conde, addressed to the opposition an invitation to dialogue, after violent clashes on 27 September between the police and participants in an unauthorized demonstration (see Fides 27/9/2011). "To the political parties and their militants I renew the offer to dialogue. No obstacle is insurmountable, no divergence can resist our common commitment to respect freedom and law", said the Head of State in a radio speech.
The clashes resulted in the deaths of two people (four for the opposition) and the injury of 40 between demonstrators and police. About 300 people were arrested in connection with the accidents. The demonstration was organized by the opposition to protest over how to convene the parliamentary elections on December 29.
Archbishop Vincent Coulibaly, Archbishop of Conakry and Co-President of the National Commission for Reconciliation (NCR), has appealed to the government and the opposition to dialogue "without conditions, in the name of God and on behalf of our Guinean brothers and sisters". This is how Mgr. Coulibaly expressed himself on 28 September, during the day of prayer organized in 60 different places in the Country, by the government and the NCR.
Archbishop Coulibaly also said that the NCR is at "God’s and the people’s" service, adding "to remember all the victims of Guinea in your prayers every day, so that God opens the doors of Paradise to them". The Archbishop of Conakry emphasized that "Guineans are condemned to live together: God has endowed our Country with wealth and it is in harmony that we can enjoy it" (LM) (Agenzia Fides 03/10/2011)