Guinea's President Lansana Conte has delayed talks with mutinous soldiers aimed at ending days of violent riots that have cost several lives and top commanders their jobs, officials said.

The postponement, the second in as many days, of the meeting that had originally been set for Saturday, then moved to Monday, was not officially explained.

"It is deferred to tomorrow (Tuesday)," said a close aide of Conte, who asked not to be named.

He said the west African country's 72-year-old leader, who suffers from chronic diabetes and memory lapses, went to his village, about 60 kilometres east of the capital, over the weekend, promising to return on Sunday night.

'The president is surely going to meet the soldiers, along with the new authorities'

"But he did not come back," said the official.

Nearly two weeks of violent strike by soldiers demanding years of back pay, forced Conte to sack the military's top brass on Saturday, causing jubilation among the troops.

But when Conte did not turn up for a meeting promised the same day, the soldiers rampaged, ransacking stocks of army equipment and food in warehouses.

The pillage came after Conte, himself a retired army general, issued a decree sacking his defence minister, his army chief-of-staff and six other top officers.

Another presidential aide, however, said Conte is determined to hold face-to-face talks with the soldiers, but has allowed time for the new military leadership to take office on Monday.

"The president is surely going to meet the soldiers, along with the new authorities," he told AFP on Monday.

Conte, whose two-decade-long rule relies on the backing of the military, had been facing widespread unrest in the army since May 2 that left at least eight people dead, most of them civilians, and scores injured.

They were claiming a total of more than 300-million Guinean francs (about R607 000) in salary arrears unpaid since a 1996 mutiny that claimed the lives of 300 soldiers.

They also alleged high-level corruption in the military, and were demanding compensation for victims of peacekeeping missions undertaken years ago in neighbouring Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea-Bissau.

Published on the Web by IOL on 2007-05-14 13:10:14