For general information on the Union for the New Republic (Union pour la nouvelle république-UNR), please consult Political Handbook of the World 1998, available in the Regional Documentation Centres.

According to a 2 November 1998 Inter Press Service (IPS) report, the electoral campaign for the presidential elections of 1998 was marked by several incidents. The rallies organized by the opposition parties were often disrupted by activists of the party in power (ibid.). Furthermore, the police and army were prepared to intervene in order to repress "the slightest attempt by opposition supporters to either demonstrate on the streets or embark on the campaign trail" (ibid.). Ba Mamadou, head of the UNR and formerly a senior World Bank official, was arrested and briefly detained by the authorities for inciting UNR sympathizers to disturb the peace (ibid.).

Ba Mamadou had also been arrested on 29 March 1998, one week after the clashes that had resulted in nine deaths in Kaporo, a community located in the Ratoma district of Conakry and controlled by the UNR (RFI 30 March 1998). Two UNR members of parliament had also been arrested following that incident (ibid.).

On 6 September 1998, the UNR and the Party for Renewal and Progress (Parti pour le renouveau et le progrès-PRG) had announced that they were merging to form the Union for Progress and Renewal (Union pour le progrès et le renouveau-UPR) (AFP 6 Sept. 1998). It had been agreed at the time that Ba Mamadou would be this new political organization's only candidate in the December 1998 presidential elections, and that former PRG head Siradiou Diallo would be its secretary general (ibid.). (See GIN30633.F of 27 November 1998, available in the Regional Documentation Centres.)

This Response was prepared by the Research Directorate after researching publicly available information currently available to the Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 6 September 1998. "Guinea: Guinea-Two Main Opposition Parties Merge." (FBIS-AFR-98-251 8 Sept. 1998/WNC)

Inter Press Service (IPS). 2 November 1998. Lansana Fofana. "Rights-Guinea: Turning Up the Heat on Government." (NEXIS)

Radio France Internationale (RFI). 30 March 1998. "Guinea: Guinean Opposition Leader Arrested; Government Warns." (FBIS-AFR-98-089 30 March 1998/WNC)