Wanted soldier appears in court:

Africa

A Guinean soldier implicated in a 2009 massacre at a Conakry stadium has appeared before a court prosecutor in Dakar, as details emerged about his years living in neighbouring Senegal under a false identity.

Fugitive Aboubacar Sidiki Diakite, who gained notoriety for the December 2009 shooting of Guinea coup leader Dadis Camara after a dispute over responsibility for the massacre, was arrested two weeks ago in Dakar.

Diakite’s lawyer told AFP Thursday a prosecutor questioned him on Wednesday to confirm his identity and informed him he could be extradited to face justice in Guinea.

Camara and Diakite are both accused of involvement in the September 2009 incident at an opposition rally, where witnesses reported presidential guards firing on the crowd, beating and arresting opposition leaders, and raping dozens of women.

A UN investigation found that 157 people were killed and at least 109 women raped in the stadium and its surroundings.

Three months later Diakite shot Camara in the head at a military camp in Conakry, accusing his ally of wanting him to bear sole responsibility for the massacre of 157 people.

After being seriously injured in the attempted assassination, Camara was evacuated to Morocco and has since been living in Ouagadougou, while Diakite disappeared.

Diakite is opposed to extradition, his lawyer Baba Diop told AFP, fearing for his safety.

Diop also told AFP that the Senegalese authorities have yet to receive any extradition order from Guinea, and that he would be requesting Diakite’s release if it was not received within the legally mandated maximum of 21 days.

Meanwhile Senegalese media was buzzing with details of Diakite’s change of identity and appearance that allowed him to live unnoticed in Dakar for the last five years. (AFP)