Former Guinean PM Sidya Toure announces return on Wednesday

The leader of the opposition Union of Republican Forces (UFR) of Guinea, Sidya Toure, who was also a former prime minister, announced on Tuesday in France that he would be returning to his country the next day, according to Senegal's privately owned FM radio.

The radio quoted him as saying in an interview that the process of reconciliation and stabilization had begun in Guinea since Tuesday's appointment of the prime minister from the opposition camp, Jean Marie Dore, and current junta chief Sekouba Konate made the commitments to the organization of the presidential elections within six months.

Toure, who went in political exile in France after the junta's crackdown on Sept. 28, has declared his candidacy to run in the upcoming elections.

Under a deal brokered by Burkina Faso last week, junta leader Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara agreed to hand over power to Konate to facilitate a transitional government pending the elections.

Camara also agreed to stay in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, for continued medical treatment for his head wounds after sustaining gunshots in an assassination attempt.

Guinea has been in a political crisis since Dec. 23, 2008, when Camara seized power in a military coup hours after the death of president Lansana Conte. Tensions escalated after the Sept. 28 clash between soldiers and protesters of Camara's bid to run for president. Human rights groups say 157 people were killed, more than 1,200 others injured and dozens of women were raped in the confrontation. Konate was reportedly not involved in the clash.

Source: Xinhua