Guinea's Longtime Leader Expected to Win    
Sun Dec 21, 2:58 PM ET  

By PAUL FOURNIER, Associated Press Writer 

CONAKRY, Guinea - Guinea's ailing leader appeared to be headed for 
an easy victory in a presidential race Sunday that pitted him 
against a virtual unknown — and that the opposition boycotted. 

Victory would give Lansana Conte, who has ruled this West African 
nation since a 1984 coup, another seven years in power. The European 
Union has said Conte's grip on state media was too tight to allow a 
fair campaign, and it did not send observers. 

Opposition parties refused to participate in Sunday's vote because 
they said it would not be free or transparent. 

"This is a farce ... it's not an election," said Sidya Toure, an 
opposition leader who served as prime minister from 1996-
99. "Guineans know this vote won't change anything." 

Conte, 69, suffers from a severe stomach ulcer and diabetes, and has 
had difficulty walking in recent weeks. He appeared in public only 
once during the campaign, and didn't attend his own final rally in 
Conakry last week. 

On Dec. 2, opposition leaders alleged Conte was too ill to govern 
and demanded the ballot be called off. 

Turnout was low across the country Sunday, said Djibril Diallo, 
deputy chief of the government-appointed National Electoral 
Commission. Results were not expected until Monday. 

"It's been peaceful ... but people aren't voting as much as they 
have in the past because there are just two candidates and the main 
opposition leaders are not taking part," Diallo said. 

Conte's lone challenger was Mamadou Bhoye Barry, whose tiny Union 
for National Progress party has traditionally allied itself with the 
ruling Party for Unity and Progress in parliament. 

Barry voted at an outdoor polling station in Conakry, dropping his 
ballot into a box perched on a table under a tree. "Everybody wants 
change. I'll be the new president," he said. 

Conte voted at a military camp in the capital. 

"It is our duty to vote," Conte said on state television. "I hope 
everything goes smoothly." 

There were several reports of irregularities. Witnesses reported 
people voting without identification and children casting ballots. 
One polling station closed three hours early. 

About 5 million of Guinea's 9 million people are registered to vote. 

Guinea has only had one other leader since it gained independence 
from France in 1958. Former dictator Sekou Toure died in 1984 during 
heart surgery at a U.S. hospital and Conte, then an army colonel, 
staged a coup and declared himself president a week later. 

He has survived coup attempts, military revolts and multiparty 
elections in 1993 and 1998 — both of which the opposition claimed 
were rigged. 

Guinea boasts a third of the world's known reserves of bauxite — 
used to produce aluminum — and has reserves of gold, diamonds and 
iron ore. But the country remains impoverished, crippled by 
corruption, inflation and high unemployment. Annual income is about 
$410, according to the World Bank.

Human rights groups have accused Conte of widespread abuses. The 
United States, among others, has credited Conte with fostering 
relative stability in a region roiled by violence, and rewarded 
Guinea with military support. 

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