Guinea mines, businesses reopen after strike

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Mining operations and daily life mostly returned to normal in Guinea on Wednesday after a two-day strike called by unions in reaction to a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters on September 28 brought the No. 1 bauxite exporter to a halt. Officials from the Guinea Bauxite Company (CBG) -- a joint venture between Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto and U.S. Alcoa that ships bauxite -- and Russia's UC RUSAL, which runs an aluminium refinery and some mining operations, said business had resumed. Last month's violence, which left 157 civilians dead, according to human rights groups, was the worst since Guinea's military rulers came to power last December and led to intense international calls for the junta to relinquish power. "The strike was largely followed for two days but people are mostly back at work this morning. The production train and the flow of bauxite has resumed as normal," a CBG official said. CBG is the world's largest single bauxite exporter, supplying some 13.7 million tonnes of Guinea's nearly 22 million tonnes of exports in 2008. Operations at UC RUSAL's Friguia refinery, which produces 650,000 tonnes of aluminium per year, also resumed on Wednesday after the strike and despite a simmering dispute between RUSAL and the junta over ownership of the plant. "Everything is working as usual ... the trains are back running their normal routes," said a RUSAL official. He added the company's bauxite mining operations were also running normally. NERVOUS In the aftermath of the killings, regional bodies and donors threatened sanctions and called for international probes into potential war crimes charges. West Africa's regional bloc ECOWAS is also due to hold a summit this weekend to try and resolve a deadlock after the main opposition parties rejected an offer by junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara to create a unity government. Traffic jams returned to the capital, Conakry on Wednesday as private businesses and public offices resumed business but, amid reports of arms being distributed and foreign fighters, residents remained nervous. "People have gone back to work but they are nervous," businessman Amadou Conde told Reuters in Conakry. "They don't know what will happen as everyone thinks that the opposition and the unions will not allow the junta to remain in power." "There is no solution other than the military leaving power. I think the international community has understood this." ECOWAS has given Camara, who seized power after the death of veteran ruler Lansana Conte, until the middle of the month to confirm that he will not stand in elections next year. Prior to the bloody repression of the demonstration, which was aimed at pressuring him to leave power, Camara had told diplomats in private that he would stand for election. He has not made any public statement since.