Violence Surges In Guinea

At least 64 people were killed in Guinea in the past two days as the West African country adopted martial law, a local human rights group said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a union leader who has called for President Lansana Conte to step down urged the restart of negotiations with the government.

Opposition leaders and trade unions accuse Conte, the ailing leader who seized power more than two decades ago in an army coup, of violating a power-sharing agreement and have demanded that he resign from power.

Thierno Madjou Sow, president of Conakry's League of Human Rights, said the deaths Tuesday and Wednesday bring his group's tally to at least 120 killed since violent protests began Saturday.

The weekend rioting and clashes between protesters and security forces led Conte to declare martial law Monday night, imposing a curfew for all but a few daylight hours and banning all public gatherings.

Yet as nightfall brought the return of a curfew to the center of the capital, children could be seen playing soccer in the street and some residents strolled down the roads. Much of the violence has taken place outside the city center, in suburbs and the interior of Guinea.

Sow said his group received reports of 21 deaths from gunshot wounds in Conakry's suburbs over Tuesday and Wednesday, and another 43 deaths outside the capital.

Rabiatou Serah Diallo, head of one of Guinea's major unions, called for negotiations with the government to recommence.

"We need to meet, we need to dialogue, we need to accept each other, we need to listen to each other," Diallo told The Associated Press by telephone. "We need, urgently, to find ourselves around the same table."

Diallo said the unions had been unable to meet among themselves or with colleagues since Friday, making it impossible for them to decide to return to negotiations.

Still, Diallo said the unions were not planning to change their demands.

"We stay behind our draft agreement which must be respected," she said.

She asked the international community to step in to help Guinea resolve its crisis.