Camara, former Guinean dictator rearrested after prison escape

Hours after what appeared to be a highly armed commando-led jailbreak, the former president of Guinea’s 2008 military junta was apprehended and returned to his cell, according to his attorney and the army, on Saturday.

According to reports, at least two other former officials who are under trial alongside Moussa Dadis Camara over a 2009 massacre were involved in the prior operation that resulted in intense gunfire in the capital, Conakry.

“Captain Moussa Dadis Camara has been found safe and sound and taken back to prison,” an army spokesperson told journalists, without specifying the circumstances of the capture.

Guinea’s justice minister, Alphonse Charles Wright, said earlier that at about 5am GMT “heavily armed men” burst into the prison and “managed to leave with four (prisoners) … notably Captain Moussa Dadis Camara”.

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He said the borders had been closed. It was unclear whether Camara had escaped of his own free will.

The army described the operation as an attempt to “sabotage” government reforms and swore its “unwavering commitment” to the current military-led authorities.

Wright also said Col Moussa Tiegboro Camara – another of the men taken from prison – had since been “recaptured”.

Guinea is governed by the military leader Mamady Doumbouya, who took power in a coup in 2021 – one of eight in west and central Africa in the past three years.

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