20100627
reuters

Voters in Guinea rushed to the polls on Sunday, forming long queues for their first chance to freely elect their leadership since the coup-prone West African state won independence from France in 1958.

A smooth election would not only act as a potential trigger for the investment needed to exploit its vast mineral riches and revive its economy, but would boost pro-democracy movements in a region that has seen a string of coups and tainted elections.

Locals are still rubbing their eyes at events since an army massacre of pro-democracy marchers last September 28 brought Guinea close to civil war. Weeks later, junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara was wounded in a gun attack by an aide and his Western-backed successor pledged to hand rule back to civilians.

"From whoever wins we want peace first of all and better living standards," said housewife Safiatou Diop, one of hundreds who had queued since before dawn to vote at a polling station in the Sandervalia district of Conakry.

Guinea is the world's top exporter of the aluminium ore bauxite and multinational mining companies are wrestling over its lucrative iron ore resources, yet a third of the population of 10 million live in poverty.

Sekouba Konate, the soldier who succeeded Camara as junta leader and who insists he has no interest in political power, told Guineans late on Saturday they were at a turning point.

"I say to Guineans, it's your choice: freedom, peace and democracy, or instability and violence," he told reporters.

"It's not just a question of electing one candidate, it's a question of creating the conditions to realise our dreams."