As Guinea reaches the final days ahead of the key referendum which could open the door for the coup leader to run for president, Conakry, its capital city, is buzzing with campaign events.

Guinea's opposition leaders say the country's ousted president is to blame for the military coup in the West African nation a little over a week ago.

A delegation of West African leaders is to go to Guinea to meet with the junta that toppled President Alpha Conde in a coup earlier this week.

CONAKRY – Guinea's electoral commission on Saturday declared that President Alpha Conde had easily won a third term with 59% of the vote, setting the stage for potential clashes with the opposition whose candidate claimed victory days ago. At least nine people had been killed, including children, amid unrest while the West African nation awaited the results over the past week. But the National Independent Electoral Commission said he received only about 33%. On Friday, internet and international calls were cut off across the country in anticipation of the election results, according to locals and international observers in the capital, Conakry. Before the latest vote, observers raised concerns that any electoral dispute could reignite ethnic tensions between Guinea’s largest ethnic groups.

CONAKRY – Tensions climb in Guinea as the West African country awaits results from last weekend’s presidential elections. Preliminary results show Guinea’s President Alpha Conde, 82, ahead in the polls and the electoral commission said final results should be announced on Saturday. Gunshots were heard Thursday morning in the capital, Conakry, while a strong security presence remained near neighborhoods with strong opposition support. Guinea’s security ministry said that four gunshot victims had been brought to local morgues in Conakry, while three other deaths were recorded in Kissidougou. Alpha Conde has repeatedly said in recent years that he had not come to Guinea to govern cemeteries.

Guinean opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo, centre, walks by supporters at his headquarters in Conakry, Guinea, Monday Oct. 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Sadak Souici)CONAKRY – Guinea's opposition candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo declared himself the winner of the West African country's presidential election Monday before the official results have been announced, setting up a tense showdown with the incumbent leader of a decade. Guinea’s national election commission, meanwhile, reiterated that only it could release official results and would do so by the end of the week. “This strategy of forced, premature and unjustified celebration was meticulously planned well before the election by Mr. Cellou Dalein Diallo,” the government's communications unit said in a press release Monday. Observers fear the political standoff between Conde and Diallo could reignite long-standing ethnic tensions between Guinea's two largest ethnic groups.

(AP Photo/Sadak Souici)CONAKRY – Guinean President Alpha Conde sought extend his decade in power in Sunday's election held after the country's constitution was changed earlier this year to allow the 82-year-old leader to run for another term. Guinea's election contest already has inflamed ethnic tensions too, prompting the United Nations chief to urge Guineans to refrain from ethnic profiling and violence. And he will be president from tonight.”Lancey Dioubate said he was supporting the incumbent Conde's quest for a third term. Conde came to power in 2010 in the country’s first democratic elections since independence from France in 1958. “I particularly condemn the use of inflammatory rhetoric by some political actors during their electoral campaign, leading to growing ethnic tensions among the people of Guinea,” ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said.

(AP Photo/Sadak Souici)CONAKRY – Guinean President Alpha Conde, 82, is seeking a third term in office Sunday, insisting his attempt to prolong his rule does not make him a dictator even as opposition protesters slam his candidacy as an illegal power grab. In recent days, opposition supporters have clashed with ruling party activists in northern Guinea, leaving dozens injured. Conde made history in 2010 when he became Guinea's first democratically elected president since independence from France in 1958, raising hopes that the country could finally emerge from a long history of corrupt rule. Sunday's vote is also the third match-up between Conde and his long-time rival Cellou Dalein Diallo, whom he defeated in 2010 and 2015. Diallo, the opposition candidate, is urging the international community to monitor Sunday's vote, accusing the government of rigging the electoral lists.

Guinea's main opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo, 68, right, speaks to the media at a press conference in Dakar, Senegal Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020. Diallo called on neighboring West African states to head off a political crisis in Guinea where President Alpha Conde is running for a third term in October elections. (AP Photo/Yesica Fisch)DAKAR – Guinea’s main opposition leader called on neighboring West African states to head off a political crisis in Guinea where President Alpha Conde is running for a third term in October elections. Guinea's opposition leader, Cellou Dalein Diallo, said Thursday that he would like to see the regional body turn its attention to his country. For months, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Guinea to oppose another term for Conde.