"He asked us to talk, he proposed meetings in Ouagadougou between the National Council for Development and Democracy (junta) and the forces vives (political parties, unions and civil society organisations)," former Guinean prime minister Francois Lonseny Fall told AFP.

Compaore began talks with the junta and the opposition on Monday in his role as regional mediator a week after troops massacred demonstrators in the Guinean capital.

"We have asked for the junta to leave and for a civil government to be installed to lead the transition" to general elections planned for early 2010, Fall added.

According to another leading opposition politician, former prime minister Sydia Toure, the talks would be held "in the coming days".

Compaore, who is acting as a "facilitator" on behalf of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to ease tensions in Guinea, will meet junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara for talks later on Monday.

"We are here to listen to the grievances of all parties but above all to express the compassion and the solidarity of ECOWAS and the African Union for the people saddened by the tragic events of September 28," Compaore said.

In his talks with the junta leader the mediator hopes to get "details about how the electoral process will be run to ensure it will be peaceful, calm, non-violent, democratic and transparent".

The talks come a week after Guinean security forces opened fire on demonstrators gathered in Conakry's main stadium to protest against the prospect of Camara becoming a candidate January 31 presidential elections

Rights groups and the United Nations say more than 150 people were killed and women were raped by soldiers. The authorities have given a death toll of 56, while Camara has denied responsibility.

Conakry was calm Monday but opposition forces organised a "town on strike" operation in Kissidougou, 600 kilometres (370 miles) southwest of the capital "to commemorate the massacre of 28 September 2009".

It is the first anti-junta protest organised outside of the capital since the killings.

"The market is closed, the administration is paralysed, there is no traffic and the streets are deserted," official Nfansoumane Kaba, told AFP. "We demand that the junta steps down."

International pressure on Camara, who seized power on December 23 last year, is mounting. Former colonial ruler France has said it will no longer work with Camara following the "terrible and savage" violence, and wants to see an African peacekeeping force sent to the country.

In response Camara lashed out at Paris, saying that Guinea "is not a subprefecture, not an arrondissement of France or of any (foreign) power".

Despite having vast mineral resources including over a quarter of the world's known reserves of bauxite -- used to produce aluminium -- Guinea has remained one of the world's poorest countries.

The junta seized power in December after the death of Lansana Conte who ruled the country with an iron fist since 1984.

Camara vowed the military would only hold power for a short period to crack down on corruption and drug trafficking before calling elections. Initially the junta leader said he would not be a candidate in the elections but later told international mediators he might run for office.

earlier related report
Scuffles break out at new Guinea anti-junta demo
Brief scuffles broke out Friday near Conakry's main mosque where several dozen bodies of victims shot dead by Guinea's junta forces at a demonstration were put on display.

In a show of public anger after military ruler Captain Moussa Dadis Camara proposed talks with the opposition, youths threw stones at gendarmerie police posted round the mosque. Police riposted by firing tear gas, witnesses said.

Several thousand people had gathered after a religious official made an appeal for families to come and identify the dead from Monday's shootings in a stadium where tens of thousands of opposition supporters were packed.

"We were there looking at the dead, those who were assassinated by the soldiers," a youth in his 20s told AFP. "We saw the security forces and we rebelled. They fired tear gas at us and everyone left the mosque."

Rights groups and the United Nations say more than 150 people were killed and women were raped by soldiers in Monday's repression. The authorities have given a death toll of 56.

Anti-riot police struggled Friday to control a crowd of about 1,000 who had come to the mosque, dominated by youths who raised their fists in the air in a sign of defiance.

The bodies in white shrouds lay in tents and families came with photographs, but many said their loved ones were not among the dead. They disputed, in tears or with anger, the official toll of 56 dead.

Camara used a televised speech for the country's 51st anniversary of independence to call for talks "so all may make their contribution to the transition process."

On Friday, Camara went to the Martyrs' Monument in Conakry for a ceremony attended by troops and religious and civilian dignitaries. Only a few hundred people turned up.

"September 28, 2009 is from now on a symbol of violence," said Camara, who seized power in December 2008 hours after the death of long-serving dictator Lansana Conte.

Camara did not acknowledge the role of the security forces in the repression of the demonstration, but reiterated a call for a government of national unity to lead the country into elections next year.

He expressed what he called "very profound sympathy" for the families of the dead, and said a peaceful political transition was possible.

But a joint statement by opposition political parties, trade unions and civil associations said that "internal dialogue has become impossible."

Demonstrators were "trapped, brutalised, humiliated, beaten up, raped, stabbed and killed by drugged squads of the army," said the statement which blamed Camara and Defence Minister General Sekouba Konate.

Camara has blamed the violence on "uncontrolled elements" of the army.

Rumours that Camara plans to go back on a pledge not to stand in a January 31 presidential election have caused the new demonstrations in Guinea, including the rally on Monday where soldiers opened fire.

Regional bloc the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) meanwhile said it had named Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore as "facilitator" to ease tensions in Guinea.

ECOWAS president Mohamed Ibn Chambas said that Compaore, who has previously mediated crises in Ivory Coast and Togo, would seek to lower tensions, resume dialogue and "see how we can move towards credible and transparent elections".

Camara's arrival in power on December 23 was initially welcomed by Guineans who believed his vows to fight poverty, corruption and drug trafficking, along with his pledge to hand over power to a civilian president.

But there are new international concerns over the country. The violence has been condemned by the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union and individual countries like France, which are reconsidering their aid to Guinea.

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