Two killed in clash between Guinean police and rural protestors

Two people have been killed by police in the Koya district of Guinea, 50 km from the capital Conakry in clashes between the security forces and the local population, which burnt down the local police station and the house of the local government administrator. Government officials said the disturbances ocurred on Tuesday and Security Minister Abubacar Sampil and senior police officers went to Koya on Wednesday to try and defuse the situation. "This has all the potential to develop into a serious conflict between the local population and the police in that region," one police officer who had just returned from Koya told IRIN. An uneasy calm had returned to area, but the situation was still extremely tense, he added. Eyewitnesses said the incident began when police chased a suspected drug smuggler into a ravine and shot him dead. Local people then protested that the man they had killed was not a drug peddler. The police subsequently fired into the angry crowd killing a second man. Incensed residents then chased the band of policemen, who found themselves outnumbered and set fire to Koya's police station and the house of the local prefect. The government of President Lansana Conte has long maintained a tight rein on security in Guinea, which fought off an incursion by Liberian-backed rebels three years ago. Conte, who has ruled this impoverished West African nation for 19 years, faces a presidential election in December. Diplomats expect the 68-year-old president to seek a further seven-year term, but he has been ill with diabetes and heart problems for several years. Conte's failure to make two expected public appearances in the past week has led to renewed speculation about the current state of his health. The president failed to receive the outgoing British ambassador to Guinea Allan Jones on June 4 and on Tuesday he left prime minister Lamine Sidime to receive two high-level West African mediators, who visited Conakry as part of efforts to arrange a ceasefire in Liberia's civil war. Diplomats say Guinea is a strong supporter of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel movement, whose forces have pushed their way into the suburbs of the Liberian capital Monrovia.