(Updates with mediators' statement on accord) By Saliou Samb CONAKRY, Feb 25 (Reuters) - A general strike in Guinea will end on Tuesday after President Lansana Conte agreed to demands to choose a new prime minister from a list proposed by opponents, West African mediators said on Sunday. The regional economic bloc ECOWAS brokered the deal to end the work stoppage that has gripped the world's top exporter of bauxite, the ore used to make aluminium, since Feb. 12 after an earlier strike in January. The deal was struck after several days of intense negotiations conducted by ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) mediators led by former Nigerian President Ibrahima Babangida. Opponents had accused Conte, a reclusive diabetic in his 70s, of being unfit to rule. The strikes since January have triggered clashes with security forces. More than 120 people have been killed, most of them unarmed civilians. "The president has agreed to name a new, consensus prime minister ... The unions have decided to suspend the strike call across the whole national territory and they urge workers to go back to work on Tuesday, Feb. 27," said a statement read to reporters by ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohamed Ibn Chambas. The deal was sealed when Conte dropped a previous refusal and agreed to pick a new prime minister from a list of names drawn up by union leaders and civil society representatives. It required Conte to make his choice by March 2. ECOWAS CALL ECOWAS urged all sides to abide by the deal. "It's one of the best agreements we have obtained. And one of the best guaranteed as well," said union negotiator Boubacar Biro Barry. The breakthrough followed the lifting of martial law at midnight on Friday after Guinea's parliament refused a request from the president to extend a state of emergency to prevent street protests. Union leader Ibrahima Fofana called on authorities to free people arrested for backing the strike or defying martial law. Before Friday, martial law had been lifted on Feb. 16 in bauxite and alumina mining towns to allow the resumption of the country's leading export and economic lifeblood. The agreement required that those proposed for the post of premier be "apolitical technocrats, with good reputations and international experience". They were: Mohamed Beavogui, who works for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a U.N. agency, Lansana Kouyate, a former ECOWAS executive secretary, Kabinet Komara, who works at the Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank, and Saidou Diallo, head of Guinea's National Social Security Fund. January's strike was initially suspended after Conte agreed to name a consensus prime minister. But unions resumed the stoppage on Feb. 12 after the president broke the deal by promoting a close ally, Eugene Camara, to be premier. Under the new deal Camara will now be replaced. Following the lifting of martial law, fewer soldiers and police patrolled the capital Conakry at the weekend. The imposition of martial law, including a dusk-to-dawn curfew, had restored some order to the former French colony, keeping protesters off the streets. But civil rights groups have accused the security forces of shooting, raping and beating civilians during the unrest. Union and opposition leaders were alarmed when army chief of staff, Kerfalla Camara, went on state radio and TV late on Friday to order an end to the labour stoppage.
