Sidya Touré

Touré's appointment, which followed a coup attempt in February 1996, was characterized as part of an effort by Conté to pursue reforms.

Although the junta barred opposition leaders from speaking to the press, Touré covertly phoned the BBC's Focus on Africa from a hospital bathroom and gave his account of events; he said that soldiers "just started to shoot people directly ...

On 1 October 2009 he said that the opposition could not talk to the government in the wake of such violence and that planned elections needed to be held under a neutral authority.

[6] He rejected the junta's offer of a national unity government, saying that the people were mourning and were in a state of shock from the events of 28 September; according to Touré, the immediate priority was to determine who gave the order to open fire on the protesters.

He initially challenged the results, but after they were confirmed by the Supreme Court, he publicly accepted the outcome of the first round on 22 July 2010: "Whether we are a victim or not, I think we should start by respecting the institutions and moving on."