CONAKRY: Guinea's junta has allowed toppled ex-president Alpha Conde to travel abroad for medical treatment, a statement said Saturday, after the country opened a probe into abuses during his rule, reports AFP.

The 84-year-old was allowed to travel out of respect for his "dignity and integrity" and for "humanitarian reasons", the junta's governing body said.

Guinea earlier this month opened a judicial investigation into Conde and several other former top officials for murder, torture, kidnappings, looting and rapes. Army officers led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya in September last year ousted him after 11 years in power in the impoverished former French colony.

Conde had drawn fierce criticism after he pushed through a new constitution in 2020 that allowed him to run for a third presidential term.

He was initially detained and then allowed to go to the United Arab Emirates for medical treatment in January, returning home in early April.

On April 22, the junta declared Conde was "finally free", but he has not been seen in public since.