With continued human rights abuses, crumbling social services and economic freefall, many Guineans were incredulous after a senior European Union humanitarian official said he was “very favourably impressed” with the governments efforts at reform to win back aid.

''With each passing day we face more difficulties," said Mamaissata Camara who lives in the capital, Conakry. "Currently I have to wake up at 1 a.m. to go to the water pump because I know that by 8 a.m. it will be empty."

In many parts of Conakry there has been no electricity or running water for more than two years. Human rights workers have said that the police and criminals are indistinguishable and that the local population is loosing hope.

"Our situation will stay the same no matter how many hundreds of millions the whites [donors] give the government," said Nagnouma Kone, a Conaky homemaker.

The EU and other donors began cutting off most of their assistance to the government of President Lansana Conte in 2002, citing mismanagement of public funds and neglect of rule of law and democratisation.

But during a one-day visit to the country on 27 October, the EU commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, Louis Michel, told reporters that he was “very favourably impressed” with the government’s efforts at reform. He said the administration was now allowing freedom of the press and had opened dialogue with the political opposition. Michel said he would work to unfreeze the EU’s 9th European Development Fund for Guinea, worth up to 147 million euros (US $187 million).

Politics and compromise

Michel met with leaders of the country's main opposition and civil society groups in a closed-door session. Uncharacteristically, some of the government's most outspoken critics said afterward that they did not try to dissuade the EU commissioner from his favourable assessment.

"We must put the interest of the nation above political quarrels," said Ibrahima Kalil Keita, a spokesman for the largest opposition group, the Rally of Guinean People (RPG).

Several observers say the opposition has been more cooperative since the government announced some major political concessions ahead of the legislative elections planned for 2007. Officials said in October that the polling would be organised by an independent commission, something the opposition had been calling for since Guinea embarked on a multiparty system in 1992.

Money matters

Even more significant, according to Sekou Oumar Sy Savane, a Guinean political scientist at Conakry University, was the government's announcement in July that opposition parties would receive government finances for their campaigns.

“Before then the opposition had refused to talk to the government about the elections,” he said.

Government spokesman Moussa Solano said in September that if the EU were to release the frozen money to the government part of it would help finance the elections.

Yet despite the new rapprochement, many opposition supporters remain skeptical.

“We need to be prudent because you never really know with this regime,'' RPG spokesman Keita said.

Human rights groups say that President Conte has imprisoned and stifled many in the opposition during his 22 years in power. On Thursday he told French radio that despite his serious health problems, which include diabetes and leukaemia, he would remain in power until his term ends in 2010.

The grim reality

Meanwhile, many Guineans are struggling to feed their families. A 50 k bag of rice in Conakry now costs nearly double what it did a year ago and nearly triple in remote areas. The average monthly wage for a civil servant is less than US $55.

Fears of sudden price hikes have caused panic buying in recent years, sometimes leading to spontaneous riots in local markets.

Security forces in June killed at least 13 people during anti-government protests over food and fuel prices, according to eyewitness accounts obtained by New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"The Guinean government is allowing its security forces to get away with torture and brutality,” said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at HRW. He called on donors to pressure the government to improve human rights.

“Combating this brutality by ending impunity could boost Guinea’s stability in this uncertain time," he said.

Last week, thousands of Guineans took to the streets in the town of N’Zerekore in the southeastern Forest Region protesting food prices and the failure of the government to provide basic services. The road from there to Conakry has become impassable.

On Wednesday, the government's Conakry Radio announced that Guinea would soon receive US $25 million from the EU to rehabilitate roads in the region.