Guineans pay tribute to Conte

Guineans paid tribute to long-time ruler Lansana Conte on Friday and the military junta which seized power after his death appealed for international support to lead the country to elections in two years.

Four days after Conte died in the West African country, leaving a power vacuum that led to a coup by young officers, tens of thousands of Guineans and regional leaders paid their respects to the dead president in a national funeral.

The body was due to be transported to Conte's northwest hometown of Moussayah, where he was born around 1934. The diabetic chain-smoking general had ruled the former French colony since he seized power in 1984.