Guinea's capital was on edge today following a botched assassination attempt on the head of the ruling junta, with residents bracing for further violence between out-of-control army factions.
Pickup trucks carrying heavily armed soldiers moved through the quiet streets of the normally bustling city searching for suspects in the attack, with shops open only part-time and most residents staying indoors.
"The situation is very dangerous. If the president dies of his injuries, that could open the path to violent conflict in this country. This could even mean ethnic clashes," said Kemoko Kaba, a real estate broker in Conakry.
Guinea's mineral wealth has attracted billions of dollars in investments from international miners, none of which have reported any impact to operations from the instability.
Renegade soldiers shot and wounded junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara on Thursday in a sign of divisions in the army since he took power in a December 2008 coup after the death of strongman leader Lansana Conte.
Mr Camara was evacuated for medical treatment in Morocco suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. A junta spokesman said tonight he was "out of danger" after a successful operation.
Rising instability in the West African nation, the world's top supplier of aluminium ore bauxite that has moved from crisis to crisis in recent years, threatens to spill over into a region scarred by a rash of civil wars.
Residents of Conakry said an aura of fear had descended on the capital since the attack, with concern that Mr Camara's death will trigger open hostility between military factions.
"I've seen people previously hostile to Dadis who now say they hope he does not die. Everyone is afraid of that," said Maimanou Bah, a secretary in Conakry.
Thursday's attack may have stemmed from heavy international pressure on Mr Camara after a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters on September 28th in which human rights groups said 157 people were killed and scores of women raped.
"Camara's attempt to bring those errant soldiers to book triggered the assassination attempt by a leader within the renegade army group, Lieutenant Aboubacar Toumba Diakite," said Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, an analyst for Eurasia Group.
Lt Toumba is cited by witnesses as leading the September crackdown on demonstrators, who had gathered in a Conakry stadium to protest against Mr Camara's refusal to opt out of general elections that had been set for January 2010.
Despite initial reports that he had been arrested, lt Toumba was understood to be still at large.