By Saliou Samb
CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's new military ruler said on Friday he had no intention of clinging to power and that it was vital to stamp out nepotism in the West African country.
Captain Moussa Dadis Camara's junta was endorsed by deposed Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare on Thursday, but Washington condemned the coup in the world's biggest exporter of aluminium ore bauxite and demanded an immediate return to civilian rule.
"We are patriots ... We have no intention of clinging on to power," Camara, whose junta has promised to hold an election in two years' time, said in comments broadcast by France 24 TV.
"We must hold an election, free and transparent, in a dignified way to honour Guinea, to honour the Guinean army. The future of our country is peace, freedom, reconciliation," said the army officer, little known before the coup.
"After that, the most important thing is to fight injustice, nepotism, in order to take up the challenge of relaunching the economy of our country."
The coup went ahead in the political vacuum caused by the death on Monday of President Lansana Conte, the diabetic chain-smoking general who had ruled the former French colony with an iron fist since seizing power in 1984.
Camara, chosen on Wednesday to lead the 32-member National Council for Democracy and Development junta, has vowed to fight the corruption that he said had become endemic under Conte's rule. He says he will not stand in the planned election.
U.S. CONDEMNATION
The United States said the military in Guinea must work with civilian leaders to swiftly restore civilian rule.
"The United States condemns the military coup ... We reject the announcement by elements of the Guinean military that elections will not be held for two years and we call for an immediate return to civilian rule," said a U.S. statement.
"The human rights of all citizens must be respected, particularly those of Prime Minister Souare and the members of his government," it said.
On Thursday, Souare and several of his ministers reported to the Alpha Yaya Diallo military base in the capital Conakry, as instructed by the junta, which on Wednesday replaced regional chiefs appointed by Conte with military commanders.
"Mr President, members of the National Council for Democracy and Development, we thank you and we put ourselves at your disposal," Souare told Camara in comments carried by Radio France International.
The soldiers who mounted the coup appeared unopposed in their control of Conakry.
Many businesses were closed in the capital on Thursday and soldiers patrolled the streets, though roadside vendors were working as normal and people and cars moved freely.
Mining operations have not been affected by the coup.
International companies including Rio Tinto, Alcoa and United Company Rusal mine in Guinea for bauxite, the raw material for aluminium.
The United Nations, African Union and European Union have also condemned the junta's takeover -- the most recent failure of democracy in Africa after a coup in 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 an election to be held soon.
