Former prime minister cleared of plotting to overthrow president

Former Guinean prime minister Sidya Toure has been cleared of plotting to overthrow the government by an appeal court judge, three months after the charges were first laid against him. Toure who now heads the Union of Republican Forces (UFR) opposition party, had been accused of hatching the alleged plot in a Paris restaurant earlier this year along with several other leading members of his party, The group were never brought to trial, but the appeal court struck out the charges against them on Wednesday, clearing the way for Toure and his colleagues to resume a normal life. "This decision not only vindicates me, but it also goes to show that all of this is part of the government's plan to wreck my political career", Toure told IRIN. During the three months that Toure was under investigation, he was barred from talking to the press, holding public meetings and leaving the country. These restrictions have now been lifted. "The timing of this victory is good because it gives me a platform to say my piece, given the particularly difficult situation our country is going through at this time," the former prime minister said. "I believe with this pronouncement, I have now totally regained my freedom...at least that's what my lawyers told me," he added. The authorities' decision to drop charges against Toure followed the start of fresh negotiations between the government and the European Commission this week on the release of a 221 million euro (US$274 million) package of EU aid for Guinea which has been held up for several years. The EU is demanding economic and political reforms to establish better governance and genuine democracy before releasing the money, but no decision is likely until October. Toure served as prime minister between 1996-1998. He was drafted into the government as a politically independent economist to set the country on a new path of political and economic reform after Conte survived a coup attempt by rebel soldiers who burned down the presidential palace . Most Guineans remember Toure's time in office as a period of relative economic prosperity and he is now widely regarded as the most popular leader in the opposition movement. Toure lamented the present state of Guinea's economy, saying "the powers that be are concentrating solely on politics and abandoning the people to die of hardship". He told IRIN that he would speak further about the economic crisis at a public meeting on Saturday. A recent steep rise in the price of rice, Guinea's staple food, provoked riots in Conakry earlier this month, with gangs of youths pillaging sacks of rice from trucks. The government subsequently announced price controls and imposed a rice subsidy. Conte, who is now 70 years old and in poor health, came to power in a military coup 20 years ago. His latest attempt to put a reforming face on his government collapsed earlier this year. Francois Larceny Fall, a former diplomat and foreign minister was appointed Prime Minister in February. But he quit two months later and went into exile with his family, saying all his attempts at economic and political reform had been systematically blocked. The government has not officially acknowledged Fall's defection and no replacement prime minister has been named.