Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, the leader of Guinea’s military junta, has fired Ansoumane Kamus Camara, the head of his country’s intelligence services, up until this point.

The president of the transition appointed Colonel Sékou Tidiane Camara, a member of the army’s general staff, to succeed Ansoumane Kamus Camara in a decree that was broadcast on national television in Guinea.

Everything indicates that the escape of VIP prisoners from the Conakry central prison is the likely reason behind the removal of the Guinean military junta’s head, assuming no explanation has been offered for the dismissal of the intelligence service. Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya was highly displeased with Captain Moussa Dadis Camara and his co-defendants’ escape to the central prisons, while their trial for the September 28, 2009 massacre is still ongoing. On Tuesday, Doumbouya also dismissed senior officers of the Guinean army.

Colonel Pépé Célestin Bilivogui, Commander Ibrahim Sory Sangaré, Lieutenant Sékou Mansaré, and Lieutenant Abass Touré have all been relieved of their duties. Colonel Célestin Pépé Bilivogui of the Navy was detained in his office last Wednesday, November 8, by Guinean gendarmes, who have kept him in an undisclosed location since.

Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya always strikes hard when he loses the trust of the military officers who have accompanied him since the coup that toppled Alpha Condé’s regime.

Mamadi Doumbouya had in April fired Lieutenant-Colonel Ismael Keita, then Director of Military Intelligence at the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

The dismissal of the head of military intelligence was linked to what Colonel Doumbouya called “serious misconduct”, in his dismissal decree. Ismael Keita since been charged by a Conakry military court.