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| - The United States and the United Nations on Wednesday condemned deadly outbreaks of violence in Guinea last week during the West African country's highly contested constitutional referendum. In an implicit criticism of President Alpha Conde, the United States also said it shared international concerns about the fairness of the vote and the lack of political dialogue surrounding it. The number of people killed since the referendum on Sunday is unclear. The political opposition has said some 31 people have been killed since then, 21 of them in the southern city of N'Zerekore. But the government on Tuesday said that only six people had been killed. AFP was unable to independently confirm the death toll. The referendum on changing the constitution has proved hugely controversial in the impoverished former French colony. Guinea's government has argued that a new constitution is needed to enshrine gender equality. But critics suspect that the real motive is to allow Conde, 82, to run for a third spell in office later this year. At least 32 people were killed in months-long protests in the runup to Sunday's vote, according to an AFP tally. On Wednesday, the US embassy in the capital Conakry condemned "all abuses", urging the government to "rapidly and transparently" investigate the violence. The United Nations' special representative to West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, also condemned the violence, saying in a statement he was following developments "with great concern". France has already said Sunday's vote was not credible. Guinea's territorial administration minister, Bourema Conde, said Wednesday that most voters had gone to the polls "in discipline, serenity and total peace of mind". He added however that some 450 polling stations had been ransacked across the country. bm/siu/eml/gd
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