Mohamed Ibn Chambas, head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said the situation in Guinea is "characterised by arbitrary and irresponsible use of state power by the military to repress the population".

Chambas was speaking to the opening session of a foriegn ministers' meeting in the Nigerian capital called to discuss the crisis after troops opened fire on a opposition demonstrators at a stadium on September 28, killing dozens.

Rights groups said more than 150 people had been killed, while the government put the toll at 56.

Junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara seized power in December last year after the death of Guinean strongman Lansana Conte, who had ruled the world's top bauxite producer since 1984.

But Chambas told the meeting that Camara's power grab had meant a continuation of the repression the West African country suffered under Conte.

"The consequences of the brutal killing of unarmed and defenceless civilians on 28th September 2009, a historic date for Guinea, was nothing but a continuation of the repression that was prevalent under the regime of the late President Lansana Conte which to all intents and purposes was a military regime in civilian guise," Chambas said.

"The signs are there now that if the military junta has its way it will impose yet another dictatorship on them," he added.

Nigeria's deputy foreign minister Badugu Hirse told the meeting that ECOWAS had been "betrayed" by Camara, "a gentleman that we sat down with and we agreed that he would not contest the elections."

Hirste told AFP ECOWAS had thought Camara could be a "saviour, at least in the interim. But as it is ...he has turned out to be a traitor".

The regional bloc, which appointed Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore to mediate on the crisis, will consider the "possibility of sanctions," said Hirste.

However, the bloc is unlikely to act without consulting the African Union, which is expected to consider its reponse on Friday when a deadline expires for Camara to provide a written commitment that he will not stand for election.

At a meeting in Brussels last week, the European Union backed away from sanctioning members of the ruling junta believed responsible for the massacre, saying it preferred to let African nations take the lead.

AU chief Jean Ping said: "We're working in tandem with ECOWAS. We need a joint stance with ECOWAS".

Monday's meeting was attended by a delegation from Guinea's opposition, led by ousted prime minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare.

Among the delegation are witnesses to the September 28 massacre, some with bandaged wounds.

"We want the international community to help us isolate and ban completely this junta and to set up a transitional body," said Mamao Dibah Badiko, leader of the opposition United Democratic Forces of Guinea.

Government troops opened fire on a demonstration at a Conakry stadium calling for junta leader Camara not to stand for election.

"More than 200 were killed by the junta," said Souare who led the group of more than 20 political, civil and labour leaders.

The killings began after presidential guard troops arrived in the stadium, but Camara has denied responsibility and declared himself "very, very sorry" for the slaughter.

A post massacre strike called by the labour unions on Monday shut down Guinea's capital as residents stayed at home in protest at the killings, rape and other abuses at the stadium, where more than 1,200 people were injured.

The junta has been strongly condemned by the UN, the AU, the European Union, former colonial power France, the United States and a slew of other countries.

earlier related report
Guineans in post-massacre protest Conakry (AFP) Oct 12 - Shops, markets and offices were closed Monday in Conakry and other cities after labour unions called on residents to stay home in protest at the September 28 massacre which killed at least 150 people.

Little traffic ventured onto the streets of Guinea's capital two weeks after elite troops opened fire on thousands of demonstrators protesting military rule.

Banks and service stations were also shut in Conakry.

The union call received strong backing in the southeastern town of Kissidougou. Local trader Sall Mamadou Lamarana told AFP by telephone there was "no activity" in the main market. "All the shops, as well as the banks, have shut down, and the bus station as well," he said.

In northwestern Boke, "there is no activity at the market. People have been praying in the courtyards, and youth clubs," schoolteacher Sine Magassouba said by phone.

In a statement issued last week, the main union federation called on people to observe a "day of prayer", urging them to "kneel piously before the mortal remains of the ... martyrs for democracy in Guinea," killed when soldiers opened fire on the protest in a football stadium.

Rights organisations and the United Nations say that more than 150 people were killed and 1,200 injured, while the junta led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara puts the death toll at 56.

The trade unions asked people to "observe two days of homage and compassion and contemplation by way of protest and solidarity, on October 12 and 13."

"This means that all workers in the public, private and informal sector are invited to stay at home to pray for the memory of those felled by the bullets of the massacre of September 28," the secretary general of the National Organisation of Free Trade Unions in Guinea (ONSLG), Yamodou Toure, told AFP.

Schools were also closed, but the start of the new school year had in any case been delayed until Thursday in the wake of the violence that rocked the west African country.

On September 28, people defied a ban on protests to rally at the stadium for a demonstration to urge Camara not to stand for president in elections he has pledged to hold in January next year.

The killings began after presidential guard troops arrived in the stadium, but Camara has denied responsibility and declared himself "very, very sorry" for the slaughter.

The junta has been strongly condemned by the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, former colonial power France, the United States and a slew of other countries.

On September 18, the African Union gave the junta and its leader Camara one month to make a written commitment not to stand in the elections scheduled for the end of January or face "appropriate sanctions."

AU commission president Jean Ping said Sunday on the sidelines of a climate change forum in Ouagadougou that "the process is in hand," but added that the AU would discuss "the nature of sanctions in liaison with the international community."

Ping said the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), meeting Monday in the Nigerian capital Abuja, would decide what measures it wanted to take against Guinea, which is a member state.

"We're working in tandem with ECOWAS," Ping added. "We need a joint stance with ECOWAS."

ECOWAS commission head Mohamed Ibn Chambas last week met Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, whom the regional body has appointed to mediate on the Guinea crisis in the wake of the massacre.

Amid mounting international pressure on Camara, rights groups have also reported many cases of rape and other abuses at the stadium.

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