CONAKRY (Reuters) - Protests erupted in towns across Guinea on Saturday, killing at least eight people, as union leaders vowed to resume a crippling general strike after President Lansana Conte named an old ally as prime minister.
Conte's opponents said Eugene Camara, a senior member of the ruling party named prime minister on Friday, was too close to the presidential clan to be a trustworthy head of government.
Demonstrators erected burning barricades and tried to attack local government offices in towns from the oceanside capital, Conakry, to Nzerekore, some 500 km away in the remote southeast, clashing with security forces as they did so.
"We risk having to declare a state of emergency because the situation has virtually turned into an insurrection," a senior government official told Reuters, asking not to be named.
Unions, who say Conte is no longer fit to rule after 23 years in power, had given the president until Monday to name a new premier, as he agreed to do in a deal struck two weeks ago to end an 18-day nation-wide stoppage.
"We cannot go against the will of the people. The president has made a choice which suits him but does not suit the people," said Boubacar Biro Barry, one of the unions' main negotiators.
"We contest this choice and the strike order launched as of Monday is maintained," he told Reuters. Residents in the Bonfi suburb of Conakry said the security forces had killed a civilian and injured another when they opened fire on youths who started stoning a passing convoy they believed to be the presidential cortege.
Looters smashed their way into shops in some parts of the sprawling oceanside city while rocks and the charred remains of barricades littered main streets in the suburbs.
At least two people were killed in Kankan, an opposition stronghold more than 450 km east of Conakry, when a volunteer military police officer opened fire on demonstrators before himself being beaten and burnt to death, residents said.
Two people were killed in Faranah, 300 km east of Conakry, while a local government official in Kindia, 100 km north-east of the capital, said between three and five civilians had been shot dead when they tried to storm a prison
Conte's opponents said Eugene Camara, a senior member of the ruling party named prime minister on Friday, was too close to the presidential clan to be a trustworthy head of government.
Demonstrators erected burning barricades and tried to attack local government offices in towns from the oceanside capital, Conakry, to Nzerekore, some 500 km away in the remote southeast, clashing with security forces as they did so.
"We risk having to declare a state of emergency because the situation has virtually turned into an insurrection," a senior government official told Reuters, asking not to be named.
Unions, who say Conte is no longer fit to rule after 23 years in power, had given the president until Monday to name a new premier, as he agreed to do in a deal struck two weeks ago to end an 18-day nation-wide stoppage.
"We cannot go against the will of the people. The president has made a choice which suits him but does not suit the people," said Boubacar Biro Barry, one of the unions' main negotiators.
"We contest this choice and the strike order launched as of Monday is maintained," he told Reuters. Residents in the Bonfi suburb of Conakry said the security forces had killed a civilian and injured another when they opened fire on youths who started stoning a passing convoy they believed to be the presidential cortege.
Looters smashed their way into shops in some parts of the sprawling oceanside city while rocks and the charred remains of barricades littered main streets in the suburbs.
At least two people were killed in Kankan, an opposition stronghold more than 450 km east of Conakry, when a volunteer military police officer opened fire on demonstrators before himself being beaten and burnt to death, residents said.
Two people were killed in Faranah, 300 km east of Conakry, while a local government official in Kindia, 100 km north-east of the capital, said between three and five civilians had been shot dead when they tried to storm a prison
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