Exiled Ex-Guinea Junta Leader Plans Return Home

Exiled Ex-Guinea Junta Leader Plans Return Home

Guinea 's former junta leader, Moussa Dadis Camara, says he wants to return to the country after more than a year abroad.

The firebrand former leader, implicated by the UN in the massacre of more than 150 people by security forces in September 2009, said he planned to keep away from politics for the time being.

''I plan to return in good form to Guinea because it is my homeland, i want to be useful to my country and to the new president, but I don't need to be in politics. That is not my ambition for the moment.'' He said in an interview.

Camara, who seized power in a coup after the death of President Lansana Conte, was shot in the head and wounded in an assassination attempt in December 2009 and was evacuated to Morocco for treatment.

He was later sent to Burkina Faso , his current location, to convalesce.

The UN issued a report late last year, naming him as among those responsible for the deaths of more than 150 protesters who were shot, beaten and cut to death by security forces in a Conakry stadium in September 2009.

The International Criminal Court said an initial investigation showed crimes against humanity were committed during the crackdown and urged timely prosecution.

Camara has denied he had any role in the killings.

Camara's deputy, General Sekouba Konate, took over after Camara's evacuation and set the country on a course to elections which led to the election of veteran opposition leader Alpha Conde last month.

Conde is due to be sworn in on Tuesday and has said he plans to set up a truth and reconciliation commission, modelled after the one in post-apartheid South Africa, aimed at healing the wounds of ethnic and political violence.

NAN/Yinka