MILITARY ROB MARKET BUSINESSES, PROTEST ENSUES

UNCLAS CONAKRY 000263 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CORRECT COPY (adding PARA Mrakings) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ASEC GV SUBJECT: MILITARY ROB MARKET BUSINESSES, PROTEST ENSUES ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Two stores in Conakry's Medina Market were reportedly robbed of safes and merchandise by men in uniform early Saturday morning. The following morning vendors refused to open the market. Protests ensued targeting the local gendarmerie and guard force who failed to protect the businesses. CNDD President Dadis appears to be on the defensive as reports of criminal activity by the army against civilians continue. END SUMMARY. -------------- MARKET BUSINESSES ROBBED -------------- ¶2. (SBU) At 0200 Saturday 9 May, two stores in the Medina Market in downtown Conakry --the largest daily market area in Guinea-- were robbed by men dressed in military uniforms who reportedly stole two safes and an undetermined amount of merchandise. According to the president of Guinea's Association of Businessmen, the ensuing protest in the market targeted local gendarmes for their failure to protect Medina's businesses. The gendarmerie station was reportedly attacked by rioters seeking to burn it down. At noon Saturday, and again on Sunday, Minister of Presidential Security Claude Pivi Coplan visited the market, and sent reinforcements to secure the situation and to protect the gendarmes. ¶3. (SBU) The market was closed over the weekend due to the unrest and remains closed as of Monday morning. The local hospital confirmed one death; however, local sources report that the death was a bystander who suffered a heart attack. No other injuries or deaths were confirmed, although contacts suggest that several people were hurt. -------------- VICTIMS PROTEST TO CNDD -------------- ¶4. (SBU) On Saturday, the Fulani(Peuhl) store owners went to military Camp Alpha Yaya to protest the robbery to the Secretary of State for Special Services, Anti-Narcotics, and Organized Banditry and Crime, Captain Moussa Tiegboro Camara, who was unavailable. Store owners reportedly met with his deputy. The merchants are checking their inventories for stolen items and money and will present a list to the GoG later today. ¶5. (SBU) According to the President of the businessmen's association, the protest is now also targeting the local guard force for the market, whom the merchants suspect of complicity in the robberies. There is also an undercurrent of ethnic tension as some Fulani merchants apparently believe their businesses are being targeted by thieves while the Soussou merchants are being left alone. The local guard force is primarily Soussou. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The recent report by Human Rights Watch of documented cases of robbery, rape and extortion by soldiers received significant coverage in the press and appears to have put the President of the CNDD Moussa Dadis Camara and the army on the defensive. At the same time, the market incident suggests that Guineans are becoming impatient over the GoG's lack of law enforcement and the continued impunity of its security forces. In a four-hour televised appearance on Sunday, Dadis reportedly commented on the need to reform the army, but chastised the international community for not providing the funds to help. END COMMENT. RASPOLIC