CONAKRY (Reuters) – A policeman was killed in Guinea’s capital Conakry on Wednesday during clashes with opposition supporters who burned barricades in the streets after initial results from Sunday’s presidential election showed President Alpha Conde in the lead.
Supporters of Conde’s main rival Cellou Dalein Diallo set alight piles of old furniture and burned tyres in some opposition neighbourhoods of Conakry on Wednesday. Police dispersed protesters with tear gas.
“Clashes broke out on the Prince’s Road. A policeman was killed,” Security Minister Damantang Albert Camara told Reuters, referring to a major throughfare in Conakry that runs through opposition strongholds. It was at least the sixth death reported in violence since the election.
Diallo has claimed victory in the vote based on his campaign’s tallies.
The push for a third term for Conde, 82, has sparked repeated protests over the past year, resulting in dozens of deaths. He says a constitutional referendum in March reset his two-term limit; his opponents say he is breaking the law by holding onto power.
(Reporting By Saliou Samb; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Peter Graff)
