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Leader of Guinea For 24 Years Dies 

President Lansana Conté of Guinea died after an illness, Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare said early Tuesday.

Mr. Conté, a chain-smoking and reclusive diabetic who was in his 70s, had governed the country since 1984, when he seized power after the country’s first president, Sékou Touré, died in a hospital in the United States.

The government said Mr. Conté had died after a long illness.

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Guinea opposition leader held ahead of polls 

Police detained a leading opposition figure in the West African state of Guinea on Thursday after he cast doubt on a health certificate allowing the ailing president to stand in elections next month.

The president of the national assembly said Jean Marie Dore, who has enjoyed mounting popularity ahead of the December 21 contest, was taken in on suspicion of insulting the head of state, veteran President Lansana Conte. . . .

. . .

The Supreme Court has said Conte submitted a medical certificate dated November 4 attesting to his physical health, but Dore cast doubt on how the president was able to get one given his health.

The subject is particularly sensitive for Conte, a chain-smoking diabetic who says he was born around 1934 and whose worsening health problems have fuelled a spate of coup rumours and bred uncertainty because he has no obvious successor.

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GUINEA: Ailing president returns from private visit to Cuba, still smoking 

President Lansana Conte of Guinea has returned from a 10-day private visit to Cuba, during which he was widely believed to have received medical treatment.

There was no official announcement of the president's return, but Conte, who left for Cuba on 15 October, was seen driving conspicuously through the capital Conakry on Saturday afternoon. Eyewitnesses said the 69-year-old leader, who was once persuaded by his doctors to give up smoking, was seen pulling hard on his favourite Malboro lite cigarettes. . . .

the president has been unwell for several years and is now seldom seen in public. Diplomats say he suffers from diabetes and heart problems and sometimes has difficulty walking.

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Cigar Tycoon To Storm Capital 

diverse sources have intimated that Jagiko boss Guinea born tycoon Mohamed Pater Jalloh is putting finishing torches to plan to storm Freetown with a high power delegation. This delegation, according to our information will comprises prominent Guinean businessmen and Jagiko's banker from Monrovia.

If all is to go as planned the tycoon Mr. Mohamed Pater Jalloh intends to make contact and concrete arrangements with the Guinean government so that their government will initiate contract with the government of President Kabbah before their arrival here in Freetown. . .

In another but related development, unconfirmed report state that a forwarding and clearing house at Fourah Bay Road, Sayaba clearing have just cleared a container of cigarette for Jagiko enterprise. It is also rumored that custom officials connived with Jagiko enterprises in this latest deal.

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