Guinea: President forces head of army and nearly 2,000 soldiers into retirement

President Lansana Conte retired off nearly 2,000 soldiers, including the head of the Guinean armed forces, in his largest single reduction of armed forces personnel, a military officer told IRIN. In total, 1,872 military personnel, including army chief of staff General Mamadou Bailo Diallo, were listed in a presidential decree issued on Friday but not made public, a senior officer in the Guinean army, who asked not to be named, told IRIN November 8.