(Updates with Conakry looting, deaths) By Saliou Samb CONAKRY, Feb 11 (Reuters) - At least three people were killed when protestors rampaged through Guinea's capital Conakry and the eastern town of Kankan on Sunday, as unions vowed to resume a crippling general strike to oust a new prime minister. It was the second day of rioting in the mineral-rich West African country since President Lansana Conte unexpectedly named a close ally to the new post of premier on Friday. At least 14 people were killed in clashes with security forces on Saturday. Unions say Conte is no longer fit to rule after 23 years in power. They staged a general strike last month to demand an independent prime minister, free from the graft allegations that have tainted the ailing Conte's administration. Residents in Kankan, an opposition stronghold some 690 km (430 miles) east of Conakry, said thousands of protestors looted shops and raided the houses of government officials on Sunday. "There were several thousand of them. They broke into the houses of government dignitaries to pillage and steal everything," said Oumar Kaba, a local resident. Other witnesses, who asked not to be identified, said the governor's house was looted and one of his bodyguards was killed. "He was patrolling the town when he was shot," said one denizen. Unions have given the president until Monday to name a new consensus premier, as he agreed two weeks ago to end the 18-day nationwide stoppage in which at least 90 people were killed. Union leaders expressed concern at the rising violence in the former French colony, but stuck to Monday's deadline. "We are at a loss because things have started even before we launched our strike call," union negotiator Ousmane Souare told Reuters. "It is even more worrying because no negotiations are taking place at the moment." "WE ARE AFRAID" In the dilapidated, coastal capital Conakry shops were shuttered on Sunday as if bracing for a hurricane. Downtown streets were deserted, with gangs of youths prowling and concrete blocks scattered on some roads. Police kept guard on the main route into the peninsula which houses government ministries and the presidential palace, while witnesses reported looting and gunfire in some suburbs. Thierno Maadjou Sow, president of Guinea's Human Rights League, said that at least two people had been killed in Conakry's Taouyah neighbourhood. "We are afraid here. Since this morning, people have done nothing but fire their guns," said Mariama Dioup, an artist who lives in Taouyah. Witnesses in Taouyah said demonstrators had on Saturday ransacked the mayor's office and the police station, emptying it of weapons, and robbed the entire contents of a rice depot. Last month's strike led to food shortages and triggered violent protests against Conte's rule in towns across Guinea. It halted shipments of bauxite from the world's largest producer, costing the national bauxite company CBG -- run by U.S. aluminium giant Alcoa <AA.N> through a venture with Canada's Alcan <AL.TO> -- $1 million a day. An industry executive, who asked not to be identified, said one major foreign mining firm had withdrawn all but five of its 70 international staff on Saturday. It was not immediately possible to confirm this.
