Guinea urges West to step up intelligence sharing on terror

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Friday 22 Jan 2016 - 15:24 Makkah mean time-12-4-1437 Davos, Switzerland (IINA) - Guinea’s president said on Wednesday that Western governments should step up intelligence sharing with West African nations in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso, Wall Street Journal reported. Extremist groups have warned that they are planning attacks similar to those that killed 30 people in Burkina Faso’s capital city of Ouagadougou on Friday and Saturday. The attacks, these groups warned, would target foreigners in other West African countries. Guinea’s President Alpha Condé said that Western governments that have higher means to monitor global terrorist groups should build on an already established track record and share more information with his country and its neighbors. "Given the extent of the problem and how it is growing we need more information", he said. Condé said West African authorities were also boosting collaboration on tracking down terrorists that have crossed into neighboring countries. The attacks in Burkina Faso could undermine efforts in Guinea to develop its tourism industry, the president warned. "If people do not feel safe they will not come", pointing to a slowdown in tourism in Tunisia. Guinea's society and economy were hit hard by the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and 2015, but was declared Ebola-free at the end of last year. The president said that safety procedures such as safe burials, regular temperature checks, and hand disinfection, would be maintained until March 31 to prevent new transmissions. "We really want to learn from the lessons that we painfully needed to learn from Ebola", he said. Condé, who was elected for a second turn last year, said he would use his meetings in Davos to remind international leaders of their aid pledges during the Ebola crisis. "We have some verbal, theoretical commitments...but how do we actually make them concrete in the face of other events that have occurred since then?" he said. Guinea, which has seen large-scale investment from China in its mining and energy sector among others, hasn't felt the slowdown in the world's second-largest economy, Condé said. "We are not very concerned" that Chinese investors will pull out, he said, adding that they had stayed during the Ebola crisis. However, to diversify its economy, Guinea must also look to its neighbors and the wider African continent, Condé said. "We believe that Africa will be the frontier market". AG/IINA