By Saliou Samb
CONAKRY (Reuters) - The army captain installed as de facto head of state in Guinea in a military coup won the endorsement on Thursday of the country's deposed prime minister, who said he supported the coup.
Ahmed Tidiane Souare said he and other members of the government that was overthrown after the death of President Lansana Conte earlier this week were ready to work with the coup leaders in the bauxite-exporting West African country.
"Mr President, members of the National Council for Democracy and Development, we thank you and we put ourselves at your disposal," he said, referring to junta chief Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara, in comments broadcast by Radio France International.
Camara was chosen on Wednesday as leader of Guinea, the world's biggest exporter of aluminium ore bauxite and a target for billions of dollars in mining investment, but he said he would not stand for president in promised elections.
Government ministers reported to the Alpha Yaya Diallo military base in Conakry's suburbs, as instructed by the junta, which late on Wednesday replaced regional chiefs appointed by the late President Lansana Conte with military commanders.
Mining operations have not immediately been affected but analysts say foreign commodities firms may be targeted as sources of cash by the new rulers.
"I do not have the ambition of being a candidate at the presidential elections," Camara said in comments broadcast by Radio France International.
"I have never had the ambition of power."
The soldiers who mounted the coup, calling themselves the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), appeared unopposed in their control of the capital Conakry three days after Conte's death from illness.
Senior military officers who also met with the CNDD gave their backing to the takeover, the Guinean web site www.guineenews.org reported.
Camara said his administration would attempt to fight the corruption he said had become endemic under Conte's rule.
"The government did not do what it had to," he told state television. "It did not deserve the confidence of the nation."
Many businesses were closed in Conakry on Thursday and soldiers patrolled the streets, though roadside vendors were working as normal and people and cars moved freely.
"We have come out because we can't stay at home and we hope the situation will stabilise," said Souleymane Bah, a car mechanic in the capital.
INTERNATIONAL REACTION
The United Nations, African Union, European Union and United States have condemned this most recent failure of democracy in Africa, which comes after a military coup in Saharan Islamic state Mauritania in August, and post-election violence in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Nigeria.
France, which holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU until next month, called for elections to be held soon.
"The presidency points out the importance of respecting time limits and within the first half of 2009 holding democratic and transparent elections," it said in a statement.
International firms including Rio Tinto, Alcoa and United Company Rusal dig bauxite, the raw material for aluminium, in the former French colony.
Until earlier this month, Rio planned to spend $6 billion on the Simandou iron ore project, but postponed work as part of a cost-cutting scheme. A firm owned by Israeli diamond dealer Beny Steinmetz has since said it has obtained the rights to a section of the concession.
Camara was chosen on Wednesday to lead the 32-member junta, which announced the suspension of the constitution and the government on Tuesday. The CNDD has promised to hold elections in two years.
Camara has defended the coup as "a civic act ... to save a people in distress." Guinea's civilian leader, National Assembly President Aboubacar Sompare, who under the constitution should have taken over as interim head of state, has appealed to the international community to prevent the coup from succeeding.
