US fears risk of Guinea civil war

US: Fears are growing in Washington that Guinea’s wounded junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara could return to Conakry and possibly trigger a civil war that could reignite west African conflicts.

Camara, reported recovering in Morocco after his aide de camp tried to kill him on December 3, could return to Guinea and launch reprisals that could split the army into warring factions, former US diplomat John Campbell told AFP.

In such a scenario, Camara might fall back on his ethnic militias who have ties to groups in Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to Campbell who is now an Africa analyst with the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

Guinea’s neighbors Liberia and Sierra Leone were engulfed in civil wars in the 1990s.

“If he (Camara) could go off to a nice villa in the south of France, it would be better for all of us,” said Campbell.

One US administration official told AFP on the condition of anonymity that Washington is “very much against him returning to Guinea” after hearing that Camara may be fit enough to leave Morocco in January.

The same official also suspects Camara last month received 100 million dollars from China that he has used to pay for weapons and for South African and Israeli instructors who are reportedly training his militias.

The official alleged the payment amounts to a “security deposit” from China as it seeks a stake in Guinea’s bauxite, gold, iron ore and aluminum mines.

William Fitzgerald, the deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, echoed fears about the risks of civil war, although he did not say he opposed Camara’s return and did not refer to China’s alleged financial role.

Washington, Sunday, AFP