General strike grips Guinea, threatens world aluminum supply

More than 30 people are believed to have been killed and an undetermined number of people have been hospitalized for gunshot wounds in Guinea since the beginning of the indefinite general strike declared by the nation's powerful unions on Jan. 10. The strike was triggered after Guinea President Lasana Conte halted the trial of two men, including Guinea's richest man, Mamadou Sylla, accused of stealing millions of dollars from the state. The unions also have blamed the president for the high cost of living. The collapse of the Guinean currency has stoked soaring inflation, slashing the buying power of ordinary Guineans, most of whom live in poverty despite the country's mineral riches. On Jan. 22, the deadliest day of the general strike, 17 people were killed in clashes in the capital, Conakry, between anti-government protesters and security forces that opened fire on them, witnesses said. Enforcing a ban on public protests, riot police brandishing tear gas grenade launchers broke up groups of youths loitering on otherwise deserted streets in Conakry. Soldiers in unmarked vehicles patrolled the streets, the muzzles of their rifles sticking through open car windows. "One of my neighbors was just in front of his house and I don't know if someone threw a rock or something but they opened fire as they drove past," said Maimouna Bah, a resident of the Bellevue suburb, pointing to a bullet hole in the wall. "He's been taken to hospital," she said, standing over a patch of darkened concrete where blood had been washed away. Residents said the security forces had burst into homes, rounding up suspected troublemakers at gunpoint. The authorities are reported to have arrested union leaders to try to break the general strike. Demonstrations have forced a number of international mining companies in the West African country, including Anglogold Ashanti and Alcoa Inc, to shut offices and halt production. Guinea is the world's main producer of bauxite, which is the raw material for aluminum. Despite this mineral wealth, most of its nearly 10 million people are poor. Industry sources said the strike has also affected operations at the town of Fria, where Russia's Rusal runs an aluminum plant. The general strike gained momentum on Jan. 16 when a presidential statement, read out by the speaker of parliament on television, offered to cut fuel prices, increase teachers' salaries and tackle police corruption. But union leaders rejected this, saying they wanted a new government. They were then arrested, but later released. Union leaders then accused the president of threatening to kill them. "He threatened us with death, he insulted us," said Ibrahima Fofana, head of the Guinean Workers' Union. A BBC correspondent says burning tires, iron bars and smashed vehicles littered Conakry's streets after protesters clashed with security forces the following day. On the evening of Jan. 17, a banner reading "End the Conte regime, we want change" was still hanging in Kaloum, Conakry's government district, after peaceful protests there in the morning turned violent when riot police broke up the crowds with tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. One demonstrator died of gunshot wounds, and at least six others were critically injured in demonstrations in Kaloum that continued throughout the day, witnesses and Conakry-based diplomats said. One man was also shot dead during separate clashes in the lawless Bambeta Cosa suburb of Conakry, residents said. Marches in the provincial town of Mamou, Kankan, Fria, Nzerekore, Pita, Labe and Kindia were also broken up by armed police. In Labe, a city northeast of Conakry, demonstrators sacked government offices, and one was killed, according to residents. "This has become a popular uprising," said a union official, Ousmane Souaré. "We're not in control of it." On Jan. 19, some five thousand demonstrators took to the streets in Conakry in response to the government killing of protesters. Tens of thousands marched in regional towns. Trains carrying bauxite for export were halted on their way to the port of Kamsar, which reduced the number of ships loading at the port, a senior industry official said. "The trains have stopped. Activities are blocked at the Sangaredi mine. If in one week this situation is still continuing, we run the risk of exhausting our security stock [of mined bauxite at Kamsar]," the Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG) official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. One diplomat, who also asked not to be named, said the situation did not look hopeful. "We don't feel we're heading for a quick end to this crisis. We have the impression that the people are determined to obtain something concrete... they don't want any more promises," they told Reuters. Union leaders have said they will not stop striking until Conte releases his grip on power and appoints an interim government. Conte seized power in a coup in 1984 and has been returned to power in successive elections since 1993 that have been widely criticized by the international community. This is the third general strike in Guinea in recent history.