OUAGADOUGOU, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- The facilitator of the West African bloc ECOWAS says the situation in crisis plagued Guinea is still worrying despite his talks with the rival sides to find a way out.
Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, the mediator appointed by the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS), made the comments on Tuesday after his first-day discussions with the opposition from Guinea.
"It is important for the mediator to listen to pressure groups and do an evaluation of the current situation in Guinea," the president said.
He had previously met with a delegation sent by the Guinean military junta leader, Moussa Dadis Camara, in Ouagadougou.
The standoff has turned into a hard nut to crack following the Sept. 28 bloodshed in which many protestors died in the clash with soldiers deployed to ban their assembly at a stadium in Guinea's capital Conakry.
The pressure groups, or the coalition of the opposition parties, insist on the step-down of the junta as the precondition for any solution, while Camara and his government decline to say they will not involve in the future presidential elections to end the crisis.
Observers fear that the push by the international community that the junta give up power may end up hardening its stance since its members know that if they leave power, they will face international tribunals.
Compaore feels pinned in his mediation work, saying he has come to a conclusion that the situation is still worrying in the political, economic and security areas.
Pointing out that it is important to engage for a rapid solution to get Guinea out of the crisis, the facilitator said he had presented an agenda for a workshop which would begin on Wednesday.
He asked the pressure groups to give their opinion on the big questions that will lead to an end to the crisis.
Analysts hold that Compaore needs tangible measures proposed by the opposition for a transitional authority and their ideas about a timetable for the elections, the only solution considered by both ECOWAS and the African Union.
For the facilitator, these proposals will help him, after hearing the opinion of the junta, to harmonize them in order to present to the different parties an accord to be discussed.
It is by no means easy for Compaore to persuade the pressure groups, who, among others, insisted in Tuesday's talks that Guineans must first be given security.
A number of political leaders are not secure in Guinea, Aboubacar Sylla, who is in charge of the opposition's communication told Compaore.
He said numerous Guinean families are still claiming for the bodies of their relatives killed during the protests on Sept. 28, indicating no sign of backdown from the junta-quit-first demand.
"Guineans do not want a military regime," cried out the secretary general of Guinea's workers union, Rafiatou Diallo.
After his meeting with the opposition, the mediator is expected to meet again with representatives of the junta for further talks on a compromise.
ECOWAS on Oct. 17 imposed an arms embargo on Guinea and the African Union declared sanctions late last month, including travel restrictions on the junta and freeze on assets of Camara and his collaborators.
