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Students riot in eastern Guinea
By Saliou Samb in Conakry, Guinea
11jun06

RIOTS erupted in the eastern Guinean town of Kindia after a student was killed by a truck, underscoring tensions in the West African country shuttered by a general strike to protest rising poverty.

"The army and police restored order after the uprising by the youths," senior police official Abou Camara said.

"Some warning shots were fired and there were some truncheon blows dealt out."

Another police source, who asked not to be identified for fear of disciplinary action, said there were at least six wounded students.

The indefinite strike to protest sharp increases in the cost of basic good began on Thursday.

It was the latest action by powerful unions spearheading the resistance to ailing President Lansana Conte.

Once a bulwark of stability in West Africa, Guinea is struggling with rampant corruption, a collapsing economy and a powerful but fractious military. Analysts fear a dangerous power vacuum if Conte - a diabetic in his 70s - were to die.

The strike closed businesses and government offices across Guinea but has not had a serious impact so far on the crucial bauxite industry. Today, some private businesses in the capital, Conakry, opened their doors.

There is growing discontent, however, on campuses after the main teachers union announced year end exams this week have been cancelled because of the strike.

The unions have demanded the government reverse a 30 per cent increase in fuel prices announced in mid-May, which it said obliterated wage increases set a month earlier.

A litre of gasoline costs 5500 Guinean francs ($1.62) in a country where more than half the population lives on less than $1 a day.

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