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GV Elysee Palace.
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GV & SCU President Sekou Toure farewelled by President and Danielle Mitterrand, talk to press.
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SCU Toure talking to press.
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GV Demonstration in the Palace de l'Alma in support of political prisoners held in Guinea, banners and chanting. (4 SHOTS)
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Initials AL/JRS





Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The President of Guinea, Ahmed Sekou Toure, arrived in Paris on September 16 at the start of a four day official visit - the first for a Guinean president since the former colony gained its independence from France in 1958. At the end of his first morning in the French capital, President Toure met with President Francois Mitterrand and was then guest of honour at a state dinner. When the president left the Elysee Palace, he was farewelled by both President Mitterrand and his wife, Danielle. Almost immediately, he was asked by journalists at an informal press conference to comment on the state of human rights within Guinea. Political sources in Paris claim the visit by President Toure is an embarrassment to the French socialist government and that senior leaders of Monsieur Mitterrand's Socialist Party had refused to talk with the visitor. As the two heads of state were meeting, a protest was being held a short distance away in the Place de l'Alma. Guinean students at French universities, waving banners and chanting slogans, said the Guinean government had jailed and killed hundreds of its political opponents. Despite being condemned by international human rights groups however, President Toure is expected to become chairman of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) next year.