Guinea will hold presidential elections on June 27, its government said on Monday, in an attempt to solve the political crisis that has persisted in the West African country since since a coup in December 2008.
 
Sekouba Konate, who took control of the military junta in Guinea late last year, appointed a transitional government in February to guide the unstable country, the world's No. 1 bauxite exporter, to elections.
 
"The first round of the presidential election is set for June 27, 2010," said a presidential decree broadcast on state television.
 
The international community and Guinean political parties, civil society groups and the population at large have demanded democratic elections since Captain Moussa Dadis Camara took power after the death of longstanding President Lansana Conte.
 
Camara has been convalescing abroad, most recently in Burkina Faso, after a former aide-de-camp shot him in the head in December in a failed assassination attempt.
 
Konate, Camara's deputy, assumed command of the country, and in January appointed veteran opposition figure Jean-Marie Dore as civilian prime minister.
 
Source: Reuters