20091205

OUAGADOUGOU, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore, the facilitator in the Guinea crisis, on Friday evening wished the quick recovery of Guinea military junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara from his gunshot wounds.

Camara was shot at by one of his guards in what was believed to be an attempted assassination in Guinean capital Conakry on Thursday. He was flown to Rabat, Morocco the next day for medical treatment on board a plane sent by President Compaore.

"It's a difficult situation but we should not despair," Compaore said, adding that on Friday evening, he had spoken to the personal doctor of the head of junta.

Sources close to the junta confirmed that Camara was touched by bullets in the head and in the neck shot by his aide de camp, Aboubakar Toumba Diakite, who went into hiding in the suburbs of the Guinean capital.

In the eyes of Compaore, the anti-constitutional situation of Dec. 23, 2008 when Camara seized power, the Sept. 28 killing of 150 people and the Dec. 3 attempted assassination leaves Guinea and the sub-region in distress.

Compaore said African states are still learning democracy, calling on "our generation to embrace it" so that they redirect their energies towards development and peace.

Since the attempted assassination, life in the Guinean capital has slowed down with police and soldiers deployed and round-the-clock patrols in the city.

African political observers fear that the situation in Guinea may will not get better if Camara does not recover very soon.

The attempted assassination has further complicated the task for the facilitator who was designated by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

No breakthrough has been made since Compaore invited the rival sides to Ouagadougou for talks on a compromise. The opposition insists on the step-down of Camara while the junta rejects the demand.