Guinea unions close to signing deal to end strike
Source: Reuters
CONAKRY, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Guinea's government and unions have put the finishing touches to a deal to suspend an 18-day general strike and were due to sign the agreement on Saturday, union negotiators said. The final signature of a deal was expected to take place late on Saturday, although it could be delayed by last minute changes, they said. The strike was launched on Jan. 10 to challenge the 23-year rule of President Lansana Conte, a reclusive, chain-smoking diabetic in his 70s. The agreement will cut prices for rice and fuel, and formalise the appointment of a consensus prime minister to head a new government. Last minute wrangles had centred on the exact powers the new premier would wield. Union negotiator Ousmane Souare said the final phrasing of the deal described the new prime minister as the "delegated head of the government", in a concession to Conte's authority. "We accepted this phrase because otherwise it was going to block the negotiations," Souare told Reuters. Street clashes between police and soldiers and strike supporters have killed at least 60 people, rights campaigners say, and the stoppage has halted bauxite shipments by the world's top exporter of the aluminium ore. Production at the Guinea's CBG national bauxite company resumed on Saturday, but shipments from the Kamsar port were frozen.
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