Shots fired at a convoy carrying Guinea's ailing President
Lansana Conte were an assassination attempt, his security
minister says.

"There was an attempt on the life of the head of state, but
the assailants did not hit their target," Moussa Sampil told
Radio France International.

Mr Sampil said that the president was unhurt and that a
number of people had been detained.

Security has been tightened around the presidential palace.

The incident happened a year after the president was sworn in
for a third term, following his victory in controversial
elections.

Details of the incident are still sketchy, but the BBC's Al
Hassan Sillah in Conakry says shots were fired as the convoy
passed through a neighbourhood of the capital known as Enco 5
at around 1500 (1500 GMT).

It is not known who fired the shots or whether they hit any
of the vehicles in the president's convoy.

The president's bodyguards returned fire, and reports say a
member of the president's security team riding a motorcycle
alongside the convoy was wounded.

Turbulent region

Mr Conte, 69, seized power in a coup in 1984.

He won a third term in elections in December 2003, after
Guinea's constitution was changed to allow him to stand
again.

Mr Conte is a diabetic, and correspondents say doubts about
the president's health have led to worries about a possible
future power struggle.

There have been no reports on the incident on state-
controlled television or media.

Members of the government were meeting on Wednesday afternoon
in the presidential building, according to the Reuters news
agency.

Guinea, a mineral-rich country positioned between Sierra
Leone and Liberia, has been viewed as generally stable in an
otherwise turbulent region.