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| - Envoys from the United Nations and regional African blocs flew to Guinea Sunday, the country's foreign affairs minister said, after a disputed presidential poll triggered nationwide violence. President Alpha Conde, 82, won a hotly contested October 18 election according to the official results, setting the stage for a controversial third term. But his main opponent Cellou Dalein Diallo, 68, disputes the results. He claimed victory on Monday, citing data his activists gathered at individual polling stations. Diallo's self-proclaimed victory led to a week of clashes between supporters and security forces across the West African nation, in which the government says around 10 people died. The opposition says 27 people were killed in the unrest. AFP was unable to confirm the death toll, however. Guinea's Foreign Affairs Minister Mamadi Toure told AFP that a delegation from the UN, the African Union and the 15-nation ECOWAS bloc arrived on a "preventative diplomatic mission," without offering further details. The envoys include ECOWAS Commission President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou and the United Nations' special representative to West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, he said. Several diplomats in the capital Conakry, who declined to be named, said the envoys were due to leave Guinea on Tuesday. Much of the unrest in Guinea centres on a third term for Alpha Conde, whom groups accuse of drifting into authoritarianism. He pushed through a new constitution in March which he argued would modernise the country. But it also allowed him to bypass a two-term limit for presidents. Anti-Conde protests in the capital slackened on Sunday, but security forces are continuing to blockade Diallo inside his Conakry home. Agents turned away reporters from a planned press conference at Diallo's residence on Sunday, an AFP journalist said. bm-cv-eml/wai
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