Fury at Guinea burn thieves idea

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A senior member of Guinea's military government has been criticised after he called for robbers to be burnt alive.

Human rights groups said the idea by Capt Moussa Tiegoro Camara, in charge of fighting crime and drug trafficking, was "unacceptable" and "intolerable".

Capt Camara had said the country's prisons were full already and it was better to kill those who killed others.

But the Guinean Organisation of Human Rights said the laws of the country should not be by-passed.

"I am asking you to burn alive armed bandits who are caught red-handed," Capt Camara said at a meeting discussing security measures in the capital, Conakry, on Tuesday, reported Reuters news agency.

"Our jails and our correctional centres can no longer take in people and the situation cannot carry on like this."

Correspondents say lawlessness in the capital, Conakry, has risen in recent months.

Since seizing power after the death of Guinea's long-serving leader Lansana Conte at the end of December, the military has made fighting the drug trade and corruption a priority.