Sightings of mercenaries at work for Guinea's junta are a potential blow to international efforts to stave off new violence in the West African country and press its military leaders to step down. South Africa said this week it was investigating evidence that its nationals were training a new militia for junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, globally vilified after a Sept. 28 crackdown on opposition protesters ended in a massacre. While their nationality has not been confirmed, the presence of mercenaries on Guinean soil flies in the face of diplomatic efforts to isolate Camara and weaken his grip on the world's top exporter of bauxite, the lucrative ore used for aluminium. “The training of the militia could change the balance of things,” said Corinne Dufka, West Africa regional director for Human Rights Watch (HRW). “This new unit appears designed to further entrench control by the military government over every aspect of Guinean life.” Hailed by Guineans as a fresh face when he came to power last December in a bloodless coup after the death of strongman leader Lansana Conte, Camara has seen his support crumble as he let slide a promise to allow a return to civilian rule. Witness accounts of killings of more than 150 protesters, mass rapes and sexual abuse by his security forces as they broke up a demonstration in the capital Conakry were the last straw. Camara and his junta allies faced condemnation from African neighbours, Washington and Brussels, and were hit by travel bans, freezes on foreign bank accounts and an arms embargo. As signs of dissent emerged from within his Camp Alpha Yaya headquarters, observers predicted that his days in power were numbered. But for now, the political debutant is clinging on to office and even taking steps to bolster his position. In an Oct. 16 report, the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank quoted evidence of “white expatriates” training a 2,000-plus militia at a base 100 km (60 miles) southeast of Conakry. One Western diplomat said the militia recruits were “forest people,” a reference to ethnic groups from Camara's Forestiere region in southeast Guinea, while ICG cited witness reports that men from the larger Malinke group were also being encouraged to join. Two possible outcomes are seen from this – neither of which fits with what international diplomacy hopes to achieve. One is that Camara, his powerful Defence Minister Sekouba Konate and other top junta officials have realised they must stick together for survival. “In the end they all have the same interest: if they don't start shooting at each other, they could still be there in five or 10 years time and be a lot richer,” ICG's Richard Moncrieff said of the scope for abuse of Guinea's vast mineral wealth. The other is that the use of the ethnic card – especially when it comes to the minorities of the Forestiere region who have long seen other groups dominate power – could lead to worse internecine bloodshed. “It is divisive. It creates tension in the military itself and it creates tension in Guinean society,” said HRW's Dufka, noting that until now the country had always managed to keep a lid on any ethnic frictions. Unless Camara's regime self-destructs, removing him could be harder than ever, diplomats now acknowledge. Mediation talks between the junta and Guinean opposition led by a regional deal-maker in Burkina Faso have produced little so far and if anything are helping Camara play for time. The latest round Thursday came up with a proposals for a transitional authority presided over by a junta member and a national unity government led by a prime minister from the opposition, with a return to civilian rule around October next year.
