By Saliou Samb CONAKRY, May 21 (Reuters) - Police patrolled opposition areas of Guinea's capital on Wednesday after overnight protests against President Lansana Conte's sacking of a consensus prime minister appointed last year to end a bloody general strike. Prime Minister Lansana Kouyate, a former diplomat, had repeatedly clashed with Conte and his close associates in the latest power struggle at the top of the world's leading exporter of bauxite, the raw ore used to make aluminium. Conte, a chainsmoking diabetic in his mid-70s who seized power in a 1984 army coup, sacked Kouyate without warning in a decree broadcast on Tuesday evening, replacing him with a former mines minister from his own party, Ahmed Tidiane Souare. The news appeared to catch unawares the trade unions who had forced Kouyate's appointment early last year in a deal to end a general strike in which more than 130 people were killed -- most of them shot dead by security forces staunchly loyal to Conte. "For now we have no comment. We haven't decided anything," leading union negotiator Boubacar Biro Barry told Reuters. But youths in at least two poor opposition districts of the capital Conakry were quick to show their anger at the news, setting up barricades, burning tyres and throwing stones. Witnesses said gendarmes fired into the air to disperse groups of youths, and mounted heavy patrols through the night. "Calm returned overnight, but the gendarmes have deployed in force to prevent any trouble," resident Aboubacar Diallo said by phone from the sprawling Matoto suburb, around 15 km (9 miles) from the centre of the Atlantic coast city. DASHED HOPES Kouyate's term began on a high, amid hopes he could revive a graft-ridden economy crippled by inflation that reached 39 percent in 2006. But despite some steps towards reform -- including moves to renegotiate some of the bauxite and alumina contracts that provide most of government income -- Kouyate's administration became bogged down in factional struggles and mud-slinging. Although Conte gave no reason for replacing him, Kouyate's standing appeared severely damaged by a report submitted to parliament this month which questioned his financial management. The report said there had been "wastage" in the spending of the first $25 million tranche of a $150 million revolving line of credit from a French bank intended to help Guinea's national power company improve operations. It was not immediately clear how Souare's appointment could affect initiatives begun by Kouyate's government to increase revenues from the mining industry. Souare served as mines minister among several posts in previous administrations. "Continuing the change will be a priority," Souare told Radio France International on Wednesday. He said an audit of government activity was not an immediate priority, but warned wrongdoers would be pursued. "If people at whatever level have mismanaged the resources of the country, these people will have to answer for their actions," Souare said. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com) (Writing by Alistair Thomson; Editing by Pascal Fletcher)
