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Guinea's defence minister sacked | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Guinea's defence minister has been sacked, one day after troops took the deputy head of the army hostage in a dispute over pay. | |
Soldiers at the Alpha Yaya Diallo base in the capital, Conakry, have continued to fire shots and have looted shops, BBC correspondents report. | |
They also reported unrest at two garrisons in Guinea's interior. | |
The troops say they have been owed money for up to 12 years, and protested over the same issue last year. | |
They captured Gen Mamadou Sampil on Monday when he tried to negotiate with them at the Alpha Yaya Diallo base. | |
The BBC's Alhassan Sillah in Guinea says that shots were also heard in two other garrisons in Kindia, north-east of Conakry, and N'Zerekore in the south east. | The BBC's Alhassan Sillah in Guinea says that shots were also heard in two other garrisons in Kindia, north-east of Conakry, and N'Zerekore in the south east. |
There were unconfirmed reports that several people had been injured in the violence. | |
Prisoner release | |
Following the unrest President Lansana Conte summoned senior government officials including new Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare for a meeting that lasted more than four hours. | |
The government then issued a statement calling for dialogue and offering to release soldiers arrested after protests last year in return for calm, our correspondent says. | The government then issued a statement calling for dialogue and offering to release soldiers arrested after protests last year in return for calm, our correspondent says. |
But it also said it had paid all the money owed to the soldiers, which did little to appease the them, he says. | |
On Tuesday, a presidential decree read out on public radio announced that Defence Minister Gen Mamadou Bailo Diallo had been fired. | |
The protests come the week after President Conte also sacked Lansana Kouyate as prime minister. | |
Mr Kouyate was appointed as part of a deal in 2007 to end deadly riots that paralysed the country. | |
He was replaced by Mr Souare, a former minister of mines and ally of Mr Conte. | He was replaced by Mr Souare, a former minister of mines and ally of Mr Conte. |
The dismissal of Mr Kouyate was reportedly one of the soldiers' complaints, as they said they had no-one left to petition. | The dismissal of Mr Kouyate was reportedly one of the soldiers' complaints, as they said they had no-one left to petition. |
His sacking sparked protests in Conakry last week. | |
Mr Conte has ruled Guinea since taking power in a bloodless coup in 1984. | Mr Conte has ruled Guinea since taking power in a bloodless coup in 1984. |