\n Guinea, gripped by days of post-election violence, suffered widespread internet disruptions on Friday and the government mobilised the army after preliminary results showed a victory for President Alpha Conde.\n<\/p>\n
\n Figures released by the election commission late Thursday showed the 82-year-old incumbent, who is seeking a controversial third term, was the clear leader in Sunday's first round.\n<\/p>\n
\n But opposition candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo has claimed victory and his camp has accused the government of \"large-scale fraud\" in counting ballots.\n<\/p>\n
\n Internet monitoring group NetBlocks said it suspected the internet outage was an attempt by the government to restrict activity on social media to weaken the opposition.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The incident appears to be consistent with previous restrictions attributed to state controls during elections in the country,\" NetBlocks executive director Alp Toker told AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n AFP journalists reported that they had lost their internet connection on the Orange cell phone network, which is ubiquitous in Guinea.\n<\/p>\n
\n A spokeswoman for Orange Guinea said the network's connection to the internet had been \"cut at the point of access\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Meanwhile the government mobilised the army, national television announced Thursday night, while clashes between young supporters of Diallo and security forces were reported Friday in Conakry and in the provinces.\n<\/p>\n
\n An AFP journalist saw about 30 vehicles loaded with soldiers driving to neighbourhoods that have been hotbeds of violence and protests for months.\n<\/p>\n
\n In a confused incident, on the outskirts of Conakry on Friday, five people were killed when a train carrying fuel was attacked after the rail tracks were sabotaged.\n<\/p>\n
\n At least three gendarme police, a soldier and a civilian were killed in violence that followed in the Sonfonia district, said a government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity and give no further details.\n<\/p>\n
\n The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor also warned Friday that rival parties in Guinea could be prosecuted after fighting erupted.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We are... continuing to closely monitor developments on the ground. The violence must stop,\" Fatou Bensouda said in a tweet.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I wish to repeat this important reminder: anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages and contributes in any other way to crimes... is liable to prosecution either by the Guinean courts or the ICC,\" she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Sealed off' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Guinea has been in a deep political crisis for the past year, with mass protests against Conde's re-election bid violently put down and dozens of people killed by security forces.\n<\/p>\n
\n Since Monday, violence in cities across the country has left around 10 people dead, according to the authorities, while the opposition says 27 people have been killed.\n<\/p>\n
\n Family members reported five more deaths in the capital Conakry and in the provinces late Thursday, figures AFP was unable to confirm.\n<\/p>\n
\n Guinea's Independent National Electoral Commission published a provisional vote tally late Thursday, with ballots counted in 37 out of 38 constituencies.\n<\/p>\n
\n It did not declare a winner, but results showed Conde with more than 2.4 million votes, well ahead of Diallo with 1.2 million.\n<\/p>\n
\n A run-off will be held on November 24 if needed.\n<\/p>\n
\n Diallo, who was prime minister under authoritarian leader Lansana Conte, said security forces have barricaded him inside his house.\n<\/p>\n
\n Police also raided his party headquarters in Conakry, the opposition leader said this week, tweeting agents were \"destroying everything\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Security Minister Albert Damantang Camara confirmed that the party's premises had been \"sealed off\" under an open judicial order because \"messages contrary to public order and national unity were broadcast\".\n<\/p>\n
\n He said Diallo's home was being guarded for \"security reasons\", without elaborating.\n<\/p>\n
\n Conde's Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) party published new videos online denouncing what it said was Diallo's \"call for murder and civil war\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Diallo, meanwhile, continued to accuse Conde's government of fraud in counting ballots, in a bid to change results in Conde's favour.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"When Alpha saw that he could not win, he mobilised his prefects, his sub-prefects, his agents in the regions to save his mandate,\" Diallo told AFP on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Guinea, gripped by days of post-election violence, suffered widespread internet disruptions on Friday and the government mobilised the army after preliminary results showed a victory for President Alpha Conde. Figures released by the election commission late Thursday showed the 82-year-old incumbent, who is seeking a controversial third term, was the clear leader in Sunday's first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-45760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n