Army colonel on Guinean TV says govt dissolved, borders shut

A Guinean army colonel seized control of state television airwaves Sunday and announced that President Alpha Conde's government had been dissolved hours after heavy gunfire erupted near the presidential palace.

Conde's whereabouts were not immediately known, and Col. Mamadi Doumbouya made no mention of the 83-year-old president whose popularity has plummeted since he sought a third term last year.

“The personalization of political life is over. We will no longer entrust politics to one man, we will entrust it to the people,” Doumbouya said, adding that the constitution was also dissolved and land borders now closed.