Guinea ex-army commander arrested

Lansana Conte is confident of victory

The former head of an elite parachute battalion in Guinea, is the latest victim of a crackdown on military personnel in the capital, Conakry.

Kader Doumbouya, was arrested while boarding a plane to Mali.

The government is silent over the arrest, but his family says he is being held at a military base in Conakry.

Dozens of soldiers are reported to have been arrested amidst reports of coup plots, ahead of 21 December elections, which the opposition is boycotting.

The BBC's Al Hassan Sillah says that despite the arrests, Conakry remains calm.

"People are resigned, you cannot tell it is 11 days before the presidential elections. All they are hoping is that it will pass peacefully" he said.

Low profile

Earlier this month, President Lansana Conte declared that some soldiers were planning a coup d'etat before the elections.

Commander Doumbouya was charged with treason after the 1996 mutiny, but was released two years before the end of his five-year jail term.

Our reporter says the former military chief has kept a low profile ever since.

Among the officers arrested is Lieutenant Alpha Ousmane Diallo, son of a former controversial speaker of parliament, El Hadj Bubacarr Biro Diallo.

The opposition have pledged to boycott the presidential elections, which they say will not be fair.

The European Union is refusing to finance the poll because of their concerns about its conduct.

In 2001, Mr Conte - who seized power in 1984 - won a referendum to change the constitution so he could run for a third term.