During the long hours preceding the inauguration of Guinean President Alpha Condé at the Palais Mohammed V in Conakry on Monday 14 December, a figure wearing a dark blue suit and an expensive wristwatch made his way through the attending African presidents, including Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, Denis Sassou Nguesso and George Weah, and stopped to chat with former French foreign ministrer Bernard Kouchner, who has been a friend of Condé's for 20 years. Those who knew him wondered what he was doing