Opposition leader leaves prison

Guinean opposition leader Alpha Conde left prison on Friday after being detained for two and a half years, news organisations reported. Conde, freed under a presidential pardon, was arrested in December 1998 near the Ivorian border and charged with endangering state security, recruiting mercenaries and plotting to kill President Lansana Conte. Conde and his co-accused were sentenced in September 2000 to five years in jail in a trial that critics described as rigged. Conde was a presidential contender at the time of his arrest. Since then, there had been numerous appeals by African leaders for his release. Organisation of African Unity Chairman Gnassingbe Eyadema has called President Conte’s pardon “a courageous action”, PANA reported. The French Foreign Ministry termed his release a “positive gesture”, adding: “We hope that it will serve to calm the political climate.”