Coup attempt after Guinea leader death

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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"There is an attempted coup d'etat," National Assembly President Aboubacar Sompare, who under the constitution should take over as interim head of state, told French TV station France 24. "I don't think all of the army are behind the mutineers ... It's a group," he added, speaking from his home in the capital Conakry.

Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare also said his government had not been dissolved and that army officers who have attempted a coup had not used any force. "We call for understanding and compassion from all Guineans, especially the military," he said, reported Agence France-Presse.

The attempted coup was launched just hours after the gov’t said Conte, believed to be 74, had died from illness following nearly a quarter century of rule over the country, the world's leading exporter of bauxite aluminum ore.

Soldiers guarded the strategic road bridge giving access to downtown Conakry and also patrolled the streets. But the city was calm, reported Reuters.

 In an earlier broadcast on state radio announcing the suspension of the constitution, one of the coup-plotters said a National Council for Democracy and Development was taking over. The broadcast cited what it called widespread corruption, impunity and anarchy and a "catastrophic economic situation" to justify the dissolving of the government.