GUINEA PRESIDENT'e ALPHA CONDE ARRESTED & removed FROM POWER by MILITARY SPEC. FORCES on 5.9.21

A Guinean army colonel has declared that President Alpha Conde's government had been dissolved and the West African nation's borders will be closed, an announcement that came after hours of heavy gunfire erupted near the presidential palace.

The dramatic developments Sunday bore all the hallmarks of a West African coup d’etat.

After seizing the airwaves, the mutinous soldiers vowed to restore democracy and gave themselves a name: The National Committee of Gathering and Development.

Conde's whereabouts were not immediately known. Col. Mamadi Doumbouya, who spoke to the nation, made no mention of the 83-year-old president, whose popularity has plummeted since he sought a third term last year.

“The personalization of political life is over. We will no longer entrust politics to one man, we will entrust it to the people,” Doumbouya said, adding that the constitution would also be dissolved and borders closed for one week.

Doumbouya, who has headed a special forces unit in the military, said he was acting in the best interests of the nation of over 12.7 million people. “The duty of a soldier is to save the country,” he said.

Separately in a video sent to AFP a uniformed officer flanked by soldiers toting assault rifles said, "We have decided, after having taken the president, to dissolve the constitution."