Man claiming to be rebel leader shows up in Mali

A man claiming to be the leader of Guinea’s rebels told ‘l’Independant’ in Bamako that his group was made up of people who escaped after two aborted attempts to overthrow the government of President Lansana Conte, the Malian newspaper reported. Nfaly Kaba alias ‘Fatoulaye’ told the bi-weekly newspaper that he was the head of l’Union des Forces pour une Guinee nouvelle (UFGN) and that the group’s armed wing was headed by a Major Gbago Zoumanigui. AFP reported that Zoumanigui was the leader of Guinea’s failed army mutiny of 2 February 1996. Kaba served as adviser to former Guinean prime minister Diarra Traore who was killed after a failed coup in July 1985. It was not immediately clear whether the UFGN is the force that has been attacking southwest Guinea since September 2000, causing tens of thousands of refugees and Guineans to flee the area.