Ailing president leaves for surprise trip to Italy

President Lansana Conte flew to Milan at weekend for what was officially billed as a three-day trip to Italy to seek support for the Guinea's agricultural sector. However, the president's surprise departure on his first overseas trip for a year has led to renewed speculation about his ailing health. Togo's President Gnassingbe Eyadema visited Milan last month amid reports that he underwent medical treatment at the city's Legnano hospital. The Togolese government subsequently denied that Eyadema was unwell, saying that he was simply on a private visit to Italy. Conte, who has ruled Guinea with an iron hand since he came to power in a 1984 coup, admitted publicly last December that he was unwell. Diplomats says the 69-year-old former army colonel suffers from diabetes and a heart problem and often has difficulty walking. He seldom appears in public and often leaves his prime minister, Lamine Sidime, to receive foreign dignatories. All the same, Conte recently confirmed that he would seek a further seven-year term as head of state at presidential elections due in December. Conte was unanimously chosen as the presidential candidate of his ruling Party for Unity and Progress (PUP) on 13 September. However, he warned delegates in a speech in accepting the party's nomination, that he would not go out on the campaign trail. "This year I am not going out on the campaign trail in the interior of the country," Conte said. "I will put at your disposition all the members of my government. They can accompany you everywhere. But as for me, I am not going out anywhere. You chose me (as candidate) so go out and got on with it," he added. Ba Mamadou, chairman of the Republic Front for Democratic Change (FRAD) coalition of opposition groups, remarked said afterwards that Conte had tacitly admitted that he was too ill to go on the campaign trail. The opposition leader said Conte was now so ill that FRAD would seek to have him barred from standing in the election under a clause in the constitution which stipulates that those in failing health may not run for the presidency. The president last went abroad a year ago on an official visit to Saudi Arabia. He was due to fly on to Japan on that occasion, but cut short his trip after becoming unwell. As Conte flew to Italy on Saturday night he left behind a severe fuel shortage in the capital Conakry for which no official explanation has so far been given.