State of Emergency Declared in Guinea, France Warns Its Citizens

Guinea’s interim president General Sekouba Konate has declared a state of emergency as post-election violence continues to rock the West African country.

Guinea's interim president General Sekouba Konate has declared a state of emergency as post-election violence continues to rock the West African country, news reports said. General Konate said the state of emergency would last until the results of presidential polls are confirmed by the Supreme Court. "The president of the republic decrees a state of emergency throughout the country as of today November 17 until the proclamation of definitive presidential election results by the Supreme Court," Major Mohamed Kasse said, reading the decree on national television. The military leaders said the decree was made "in order to preserve peace and national unity." The move comes as the death toll has risen to seven since Monday. France's foreign ministry warned its citizens on Thursday against travelling to Guinea after the deadly post-election violence. The government's guidelines for Guinea "formally advise against travelling to the country in the current circumstances," ministry spokeswoman Christine Fages told reporters. "France is following with concern the development of the situation in Guinea, in particular the acts of violence in recent days. We firmly condemn them," she added. According to the country's electoral commission, former Premier Alpha Conde has won the presidential run-off in Guinea by garnering 53.5 percent of the vote. However, Conde's victory has been overshadowed by violence and demonstrations in Conakry and some other parts of the country. Conde's rival Cellou Diallo has threatened to reject the election result, accusing Conde of vote-rigging. Diallo was seen as the favorite for presidency after gaining 44% of the vote in the first round. The West African nation has been run by a transitional government for the past six months. Military figures or members of the transitional government have not been allowed to run in the race. The country descended into political turmoil in September 2009 when soldiers opened fire on a rally at a stadium in the capital. More than 150 pro-democracy demonstrators were killed as a result of the attack. Konate warned presidential hopefuls against carrying out any measures that could cast the country back into a volatile situation.