Exiled junta leader’s dead son buried in Guinea

Junta leader’s dead son buried in Guinea

CONAKRY, Guinea — The dead son of Guinea’s exiled strongman was buried on the grounds of his father’s villa Thursday in the presence of the leader’s closest associates at a funeral marked by the absence of members of the current administration.

Moriba “Junior” Dadis Camara, the 25-year-old son of Capt. Moussa “Dadis” Camara was found at the bottom of a swimming pool in Montreal last week. His body was flown first to Burkina Faso, where his father was allowed to pray over the casket before being repatriated to neighboring Guinea.

Camara’s family said that they are awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death. They would not say whether or not they believe that death was due to foul play.

He was buried in the backyard of a lavish private villa that his father built during his one-year reign of terror marked by the Sept. 28 massacre of hundreds of demonstrators that had gathered to demand an end to military rule. Less than two months later, Camara was airlifted to Morocco for emergency surgery after an assassination attempt and his No. 2 grabbed control of the country and refused to allow Camara back in.

“Junior, you are buried here today on this family land in the absence of your father who is not here because he was betrayed by those closest to him,” family member Ferdinand Kolie said in his homage.

“We weep for the son of the captain and it’s a shame that he cannot be present at this ceremony for reasons we know all too well. But God will right this injustice,” said Gnanga Gomou Komata, the minister of hydraulics during Dadis’ regime.

Although members of the current administration were at the airport Wednesday to await the arrival of the casket, they were noticeably absent at the memorial service. Prime Minister Jean-Marie Dore, a former opposition leader, was one of tens of thousands of protesters that had congregated inside the national football stadium Sept. 28.

Dore — like hundreds of others — was seriously wounded when Camara’s presidential guard sealed off the exits to the stadium and then opened fire at point-blank range. More than 100 women were raped on the stadium turf, including with rifle butts, with bayonets and with pieces of wood.

In the neighborhoods of Bambeto, Cosa and Enco 5 where family members of those slaughtered in the stadium live, few had words of condolences for the former leader.

“Those that died on Sept. 28 in the stadium had mothers and fathers. These parents suffered something unimaginable,” said Mounjir Sow, a resident of Bambeto. “Many of them never even found their children’s bodies and were never able to bury them. Dadis can consider himself lucky that he at least saw the body of his son.”

Associated Press Writer Rukmini Callimachi contributed to this report from Dakar, Senegal.