"Those who are bad among us, overcome them. Fight against the brigands in our ranks," Konate said, wearing his uniform and a red beret, after inspecting hundreds of troops at the Almany Samory Toure base near the capital Conakry.

Konate, who is also defence minister, said Wednesday on state television that the December 3 attack on Captain Moussa Dadis Camara by an aide "brought shame on our nation, shame on our army."

"Discipline was completely shattered. We need to get back to discipline... (and) coherence. The army is indivisible, we are family," the general said as he toured military units in the capital Conakry.

Opposition leader and former prime minister Sidya Toure welcomed Konate's announcement but warned that the divide between the military and the general population was "profound."

The spokesman for the Forces Vives -- a grouping of opposition parties, trade unions and rights bodies -- Jean-Marie Dore said Konate had given the people hope by telling unruly troops that "playtime was over".

Both junta and Forces Vives have been invited back to talks in Ouagadougou on Sunday to discuss the situation in Guinea, according to a Burkinabe source.

The junta announced late Tuesday that it was suspending talks with mediator Blaise Compaore, Burkina Faso's president, until Camara returns to work.

The United States sees Konate as one of the best chances of uniting Guinea and is considering "holding out a hand" to the general in hopes of restoring a civilian government, said a US official who asked not to be named.

"We don't know if Camara will return to power, but in the meantime, we will hold out a hand to Konate. We believe progress can be made with (Konate) in the event that Camara doesn't return."

Konate, the former commander of an elite paratroop battalion, is known to have been the key man in the coup that brought the junta to power in December 2008, within hours of the death of president Lansana Conte.

He has taken charge in the west African country since Camara was flown to Morocco, where he was operated on for a head wound.

Guinean authorities report that he is "doing well," but there has been no word from Camara since the attack by his aide de camp, Aboubacar Sidiki Diakite, who has gone into hiding.

Guinean government ministers have begun to discuss the likelihood of a long convalescence.

"Even if it takes years, there's no problem," said the permanent secretary of the junta, Colonel Moussa Keita, who added that "Konate will continue to rule in the interim, in a loyal fashion, awaiting the return of President Dadis."

Some officials have described Diakite's shooting of Camara as a coup bid, but witnesses have said the two men fell out over the September 28 massacre of scores of people in Conakry's sports stadium, when troops opened fire on demonstrators opposed to Camara's standing for election next year.

At least 150 people were killed and more than 1,200 were injured, according to human rights groups and the United Nations. The junta says that 56 people were injured.

"Safeguard the civilian population," Konate said Thursday in a reference to the bloodbath. "We can't accept that, that people come to trample on them or anything else."

Earlier, Konate said that "the civilian population has suffered too much from the actions of some our comrades."

"I agree with him when he condemns violence, because we are obliged to live together in this country," said Toure, the opposition leader who has lived in Paris for several months and was reached by telephone from Dakar.

"We advise him to continue down this path, because there's no army without a population."

"Everybody needs to reflect on how to stick together the pieces because the divide between the military and the population is profound," Toure added.

Human rights groups denounced "arbitrary arrests" they said had taken place in recent days in Conakry and said they were concerned people arrested could be tortured or summarily executed.

In New York, through a spokesman, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reiterated the need to refrain from engaging in violence and respect the rule of law in Guinea.

Ban directed his special representative to West Africa, Said Djinnit, "to remain actively engaged with national and regional stakeholders in the search for a solution that provides the people of Guinea an opportunity to elect their leaders in a democratic manner," the spokesman added.

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