CONAKRY: Authorities in Guinea called for calm yesterday after more than 100 people were injured in clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in the capital Conakry.
The government is preparing for a long-delayed parliamentary election the opposition fears will be rigged.
"We call on the population to remain calm," said government spokesman Damantang Albert Camara. "The street is not the place to resolve political disagreements."
A government official said on state television that 130 people were hurt in Wednesday's riots, including 68 members of the security forces, two of whom were in a critical condition.
Thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets to protest against the May election. Clashes broke out between rock-throwing youths and security forces armed with truncheons and teargas grenades. Police in anti-riot gear were posted in opposition strongholds in the capital on Thursday. Many shops were closed and debris, including burned tyres and rocks, littered the streets.
Opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo, who lost narrowly to President Alpha Conde in the 2010 election, accused the security forces of cracking down harshly on demonstrators, adding some were arrested and beaten.
"The president of the republic has a crucial responsibility to create peace. He needs to agree to listen to others, to respect his adversaries," he said. Conde was attending a regional summit in Ivory Coast during the protests.
Guinea's opposition coalition called for widespread protests in Conakry after announcing last week it would boycott preparations for the election, saying they were flawed.
The election set for May 12 is intended to be the last step in Guinea's transition to civilian rule after two years under a army junta following the death of long-time leader Lansana Conte in 2008. The poll was due to have been held in 2011 but has been delayed four times.
The opposition says the elections commission chose the poll date unilaterally and that two companies contracted to update voter rolls have skewed the lists in Conde's favour. They also want Guineans living abroad to be allowed to vote.
Conde won the 2010 presidential election in the world's top supplier of bauxite, the raw material in aluminium, promising prosperity for the former French colony's 10 million people whose economy produces only about $ 1.50 per person per day despite a wealth of natural resources, including the world's largest untapped iron ore deposit.
The European Union, a major donor, warned in November that it needed a credible and detailed timeline for the election to unblock about 174 million euros ($ 229 million) in aid.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said: "France calls on all Guinea's political players to hold back and commit immediately in good faith in a process of political dialogue."
Guinea urges calm after anti-govt protest turns violent
Guinea urges calm after anti-govt protest turns violent
Kennedy Center Christmas Eve jazz concert canceled after Trump name added to building
- According to the White House, the president’s handpicked board approved the decision, which scholars have said violates the law
- Numerous artists have called off Kennedy Center performances since Trump returned to office, including Issa Rae and Peter Wolf
NEW YORK: A planned Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center, a holiday tradition dating back more than 20 years, has been canceled. The show’s host, musician Chuck Redd, says that he called off the performance in the wake of the White House announcing last week that President Donald Trump’s name would be added to the facility.
As of last Friday, the building’s facade reads The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. According to the White House, the president’s handpicked board approved the decision, which scholars have said violates the law. Trump had been suggesting for months he was open to changing the center’s name.
“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Redd told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday. Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player who has toured with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Ray Brown, has been presiding over holiday “Jazz Jams” at the Kennedy Center since 2006, succeeding bassist William “Keter” Betts.
The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to email seeking comment. The center’s website lists the show as canceled.
President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year naming the center as a living memorial to him. Kennedy niece Kerry Kennedy has vowed to remove Trump’s name from the building once he leaves office and former House historian Ray Smock is among those who say any changes would have to be approved by Congress.
The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else, and from putting another person’s name on the building’s exterior.
Trump, a Republican, has been deeply involved with the center named for an iconic Democrat after mostly ignoring it during his first term. He has forced out its leadership, overhauled the board while arranging for himself to head it, and personally hosted this year’s Kennedy Center honors, breaking a long tradition of presidents mostly serving as spectators. The changes at the Kennedy Center are part of the president’s larger mission to fight “woke” culture at federal cultural institutions.
Numerous artists have called off Kennedy Center performances since Trump returned to office, including Issa Rae and Peter Wolf. Lin-Manuel Miranda canceled a planned production of “Hamilton.”
