Guinean special forces seized power in a coup on Sunday, arresting the president and imposing an indefinite curfew in the west African country.

"We have decided, after having taken the president, to dissolve the constitution," said a uniformed officer flanked by soldiers toting assault rifles in a video sent to AFP.

The officer also said that Guinea's land and air borders had been shut and the government dissolved.

An earlier video sent to AFP by the putschists showed President Alpha Conde sitting on a sofa surrounded by troops. The 83-year-old leader refused to answer a question from one soldier about whether he had been mistreated.

Later Sunday, the junta announced a nationwide curfew "until further notice", saying it would convene Conde's cabinet ministers at 11:00 am (1100 GMT) Monday.

"Any refusal to attend will be considered a rebellion," the statement added.

The country's governors and other top administrators will be replaced by the military, the statement said.

For their appearance on state television, members of the junta were wearing berets and dressed in fatigues, with no weapons apparent.

- Government 'mismanagement' -

The nation of around 13 million people -- one of the world's poorest countries despite boasting significant mineral resources -- has long been beset by political instability.

Earlier Sunday, residents of the capital Conakry's Kaloum district, the government quarter, had reported hearing heavy gunfire.

One Western diplomat in Conakry who declined to be named suggested the unrest may have started after the dismissal of a senior commander in the special forces -- provoking some of its highly trained members to rebel.

AFP was unable to independently confirm this account.

The head of Guinea's military special forces, Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, appeared on public television, draped in the national flag, saying government "mismanagement" prompted the coup.

"We are no longer going to entrust politics to one man, we are going to entrust politics to the people," Doumbouya said.

"Guinea is beautiful. We don't need to rape Guinea anymore, we just need to make love to her," he added.

- International condemnation -

The US State Department condemned the putsch and warned it could "limit" Washington's ability to support Guinea.

"Violence and any extra-constitutional measures will only erode Guinea's prospects for peace, stability, and prosperity," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement, urging all parties to abide by the rule of law.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the coup in a tweet and called for Conde's immediate release.

The chairman of the African Union, DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, and the head of its executive body, former Chadian prime minister Moussa Faki Mahamat, also condemned it, calling for Conde's immediate release.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), through its acting president, Ghana's leader Nana Akufo-Addo, threatened sanctions if Guinea's constitutional order was not restored.

And EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell demanded "respect for the state of law, the interests of peace and the well-being of the Guinean people".

A French foreign ministry statement also condemned the coup.

The putsch follows a long period of political tension in Guinea, first spurred by Conde's highly contested bid for a third presidential term last year.

The day before the presidential election last year, the military blocked access to Kaloum after an alleged military rebellion east of the capital.

The coup plotters have announced a national committee for assembly and development and say the constitution will be rewritten.

Doumbouya also told French media "we are holding all of Conakry," and that he had the support of all the defence and security forces.

News of the coup sparked celebrations in some parts of the capital, where hundreds of people applauded the soldiers.

"We are proud of the special forces," said one demonstrator who requested anonymity. "Death to the torturers and to the murderers of our youth".

- Violent elections -

The most recent presidential poll in Guinea, in October 2020, was marred by violence and accusations of electoral fraud.

Conde won a controversial third term, but only after pushing through a new constitution in March 2020 allowing him to sidestep the country's two-term limit.

Dozens of people were killed during demonstrations against a third term for Conde, often in clashes with security forces. Hundreds more were arrested.

Conde was proclaimed president on November 7 last year -- despite his main challenger Cellou Dalein Diallo and other opposition figures denouncing the election as a sham.

The government cracked down, arresting several prominent opposition members for their alleged role in abetting electoral violence in the country.

Conde, a former opposition leader himself who was at one point imprisoned and sentenced to death, became Guinea's first democratically elected leader in 2010, winning re-election in 2015.

He survived an assassination attempt in 2011. In recent years however, he has been accused of drifting into authoritarianism.

Five things to know about Guinea
Conakry (AFP) Sept 5, 2021 - Guinea, where a junta seized power in a coup on Sunday, arresting President Alpha Conde, is an impoverished west African country despite a wealth of natural resources.

- Authoritarian regimes -

The former French colony is the only Francophone state on the continent to have rejected in 1958 the Franco-African community proposed by then French President Charles de Gaulle. Instead, the country plumped for independence and installed a socialist regime which Ahmed Sekou Toure would go on to rule with an iron fist for a quarter of a century. Under his rule, some 50,000 people were killed or simply disappeared, according to human rights organisations.

Guinea has spent decades under authoritarian or dictatorial regimes, starting with Sekou Toure, followed by Lansana Conte, who died in 2008. A military junta under captain Moussa Dadis Camara then took over in a bloodless coup.

On September 28, 2009, security forces massacred 157 people at a rally gathering tens of thousands of opposition supporters in Conakry protesting Camera's expected participation in the next presidential election, while 109 women were raped, according to UN sources.

- Democratic transition -

On November 7, 2010, longtime opposition mainstay Alpha Conde became the first freely elected president in Guinea's history. He was re-elected in 2015 for a second term after a poll marred by violence and amid accusations of fraud.

Conde's standing for a third term last October led to tensions as well as the arrest of dozens of opponents but he was proclaimed the winner on November 7 despite challenges to the result from main rival Cellou Dalein Diallo and three other candidates claiming ballot stuffing and other irregularities.

- Natural resources under-exploited -

Guinea, which borders Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, is 80 percent Muslim but is made up of numerous ethnic groups, the main two being the Fulani and the Malinkes. Slightly bigger than Britain, it sits on a wealth of natural resources.

It is notably one of the world's top producers of bauxite, the chief mineral used in the production of aluminium but also a producer of iron, gold, diamonds and oil.

Agriculture is the main source of employment.

GDP grew 5.6 percent in 2019 and 5.2 percent in 2020, according to the African Development Bank, which expects a rise topping five percent this year based on strong performance in mining and also the coming onstream of the flagship Souapiti hydropower station northeast of capital Conakry.

But corruption remains a major problem. Transparency International ranked Guinea 137th out of 180 on its index last year and social inequalities are stark with roughly half of the 13 million population living below the poverty line, according to the country's national statistical institute.

Many people also have no access to electricity and running water, according to the World Bank.

- FGM, Ebola -

Guinea has among the world's highest incidences of female genital mutilation (FGM), UNICEF saying around 97 percent of girls and women undergo circumcision.

The country was also hit by the worst outbreak to date of Ebola, which started in the country in December 2013 and lasted three years. The outbreak left 11,000 west Africans dead -- 2,500 of them in Guinea.

- Mandingo music -

Guinea is, with Mali, the cradle of mandingo music played with traditional instruments including the harp-like kora and the balafon, a kind of xylophone.

One of its most famous exponents, Mory Kante, who died in May last year, scored a global hit in 1987 with "Yeke Yeke".

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