20100913
africanews

As a result of the weekend clashes between rival presidential candidates in Guinea and their supporters, campaigning for next Sunday's presidential vote in the West African country has been temporarily halted. Two deaths were recorded. The interim government would meet the candidates to decide on the next agenda.

One minister has said the run-off between former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo and veteran opposition leader Alpha Conde can go ahead, according to the BBC.

The violence in the capital, Conakry, comes after the election commission condemned the one-year jail sentences given to its head and one of his senior officials for tampering with the votes during the first round.

The vote had been hailed as the first democratic election in the mineral-rich West African state since independence from France in 1958.

Live ammunition had been used during the weekend violence, according to the head of the paramilitary gendarmerie, who said that two people had died.

About 50 people were injured in the clashes, which began after the two candidates held rallies in the capital, Conakry, on Saturday and Sunday, with rival supporters started throwing stones at each other.

Both Diallo's Union of Democratic Forces in Guinea (UDFG) and Conde's Rally for the People of Guinea (RPG) have accused each other of starting the violence. On Sunday, rival supporters threw stones at each other in the suburb of Hamdallaye, where both candidates' parties have their headquarters, the AFP news agency said. Nearby cars were also reportedly attacked.

Saturday's clashes, which left a number of people with serious injuries, happened near Conde's home in the Mafanco district, as well as in Hamdallaye and in Dixinn, where the electoral officials were tried in absentia last week.

The court said the two electoral officials had wrongly annulled about 600,000 votes cast for Mr Conde, whose party had lodged a complaint.