Parliament seeks detainees’ release

Guinea’s parliament is trying to secure the release of jailed opposition leader Alpha Conde and four other legislators, leading opposition figure Momadu Ba said on Radio France Internationale over the weekend. Ba said parliament had not lifted the immunity of the detainees, “so the assembly is asking that they be freed quickly”. Conde, imprisoned since mid-December 1998, was first accused of trying to cross into Cote d’Ivoire despite the closure of the border during the December elections. He was later accused of trying to recruit and train mercenaries to topple the government. Conde began a hunger strike on 1 March to try and obtain his freedom.