CONAKRY, Guinea — Coup leaders in Guinea named a civilian banker as prime minister Tuesday, making good on a key promise a week after seizing power upon the death of the country’s longtime dictator.
Their choice, Kabine Komara, is a director of the African Export-Import Bank in Cairo, a 14-year-old institution that promotes trade between African states. His selection raises hopes the military junta may also honor other commitments, including holding elections and cracking down on corruption.
This West African nation has an abundance of gold, diamonds, iron, timber and half the world’s reserves of bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum. But for the past 24 years, Guinea’s treasury has been pillaged by officials loyal to the late President Lansana Conte, and its people have fallen deeper into poverty.
Coup leader Capt. Moussa Camara’s troops have held raids over the past two days to reclaim government property allegedly stolen by Conte’s inner clique. The young and charismatic coup leader has won overwhelming public approval by promising to punish those who stole from the state.
But his welcome by the international community has been less than warm.
The European Union on Tuesday reiterated its condemnation of the coup, urging the junta to hand over power to an interim civilian government that will organize elections. The African Union froze Guinea’s membership in the continentwide bloc, threatening more sanctions if the junta does not restore constitutional order.
