Guinea government warns it won't tolerate protest violence

CONAKRY: The Guinean government warned it will respond vigorously to any violence at an opposition rally on Monday, the latest protest over fears that President Alpha Conde is changing the constitution to extend his mandate.

The West African country has been wracked by mass demonstrations since mid-October over constitutional reform. At least 20 civilians and one gendarme have been killed in the protests, which have drawn hundreds of thousands of people. Scores have been arrested.

For Monday the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), an alliance of opposition groups, has called for a "huge" and "open-ended" protest, heightening fears of fresh violence. While the FNDC also specified a peaceful demonstration, the government issued a statement Sunday accusing the opposition leaders of seeking "to plunge Guinea into disorder". "State powers will be exercised in all their rigour against those who seek to upset public order and to deny other Guineans the free exercise of their fundamental rights," the statement said. Conde, 81, published a draft constitution last month, arguing that the colonial-era laws need to be changed.