PARIS, Oct 30 (Reuters) - France will halt cooperation with Guinean institutions and suspend funding of a highway project in Conakry, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday, as Paris stepped up its criticism of the ruling military junta. France has been among the strongest critics of Guinea's leaders following a crackdown in which a local rights group said 157 people were killed on Sept. 28 when live ammunition was used against anti-government protesters in a stadium. In Paris, foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said France was deeply concerned about the arrest in recent days of members of a Guinean youth federation who had been on a hunger strike against "impunity and violence". "We call for the respect of public rights and freedoms and the re-establishment of the rule of law in Guinea," he told a regular news briefing. The European Union has agreed to impose an arms embargo and restrict travel and freeze assets of individuals involved in the crackdown while the African Union has also agreed sanctions including freezing bank accounts and visas. Valero said that in addition to measures agreed under the EU umbrella, France, which has already suspended military cooperation, would also impose additional sanctions of its own. "France has re-examined all its civil cooperation and decided to interrupt its institutional cooperation with government authorities," he said, adding that such cooperation concerned around 10 technical assistants. It would also suspend financing of an urban highway project in the Guinean capital Conakry, he said, adding that projects aimed at helping the poor directly would be maintained. Valero said that practical reasons had prevented the immediate implementation of planned European Union measures including freezing assets. "In technical terms, it's a bit more complicated to implement than visas and so on," he said. (Reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, chief of the ruling junta in Guinea, salutes during a ceremony with Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore at the international airport in Conakry October 5, 2009. The ...
