[2]: 66 [3][failed verification] The eldest son of Barry Aguibou, the Almami of Dabola,[4][5]: 171 he was a descendant of the Soriya branch of the former ruling dynasty in the Islamic confederacy of the Futa Jalon.
[5]: 73–83 The French minister Robert Buron admitted in 1968 that the election had been rigged by France to prevent Sékou Touré from winning and prop up the more loyal Barry,[6][7] who was seen as the representative of the "traditional chiefs and white residents of the Futa Jalon".
[8]: 187 The French investigative journalists Roger Faligot and Pascal Krop [fr] have claimed that Barry, a devout Muslim who repeatedly completed the hajj, "dreamed of establishing an Islamic republic in Guinea" and that he was actively supported by the French intelligence agency SDECE to foment anti-government sentiment among the Fula.
His arrest and imprisonment were part of a complex strategy that enabled the government to rid itself of politically troublesome individuals at the time.
Barry was just one of dozens of the accused, who included other ministers and cabinet members, senior civil servants, and military officers — all allegedly participants in the plot.