Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The leader of Guinea’s military junta, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, called for the formation of a government of national unity, two days after troops killed more than 130 people protesting his plan to run for president.

Camara also said he would back an international inquiry into the killings that took place on Sept. 28 at a stadium in the capital, Conakry, according to a statement read on state radio late yesterday.

The United Nations human rights agency said yesterday it was “essential” that an independent inquiry be held into reports of summary executions and rape carried out by Guinean security forces. The UN and rights groups including Amnesty International said more than 130 people were killed, while the opposition puts the figure at over 200.

“The continuing deterioration in the political, human rights and security situation in the country remains of serious concern to the international community,” the UN’s special representative in West Africa, Said Djinnit, said in an e-mail late yesterday. He convened an emergency meeting yesterday to discuss the situation in Guinea.

Camara seized power on Dec. 23, a day after the death of President Lansana Conte, who had ruled the country for two decades. After the coup, Camara suspended the constitution and pledged to relinquish control to a civilian government and not to run in national elections. On Aug. 22, the government said members of the junta could run in the election.

No Optimism

Kissy Agyeman-Togobo, an analyst at IHS Global Insight in London, said that while Camara’s call for a unity government struck a “less defiant” tone than in recent weeks, it was too soon for observers to be optimistic that the situation improving in Guinea.

“The extrajudicial deaths and the multiple injuries have overshadowed the junta’s pledge to organize an election and has created a greater barrier than ever before between the governed and the governing,” Agyeman-Togobo said.

At least 150 women were raped by members of the Guinean military in the Sept. 28 crackdown, according to Muctar Diallo, the leader of the opposition New Democratic Forces. Some of the servicemen used their rifles and sticks to violate the women, he said.

‘Appalled’

Navi Pillay, the UN human rights commissioner, said yesterday she was “appalled” by the reports out of Guinea, which has ratified most of the world’s human rights treaties. Previous independent inquiries into the violence in Guinea in 2006 and 2007 failed to function because of “a lack of political will,” she said.

At least 110 people were killed by security forces in early 2007 after demonstrations demanding former president Conte’s resignation, according to Human Rights Watch. The year before, soldiers shot dead 13 unarmed people during protests against rising food.

“Monday’s bloodbath must not become part of the fabric of impunity that has enveloped Guinea for decades,” Pillay said.

The U.S. issued a travel warning today and ordered non- emergency personnel and eligible family members of embassy staff in Conakry to leave the country.

The African Union has threatened possible sanctions against the military leadership unless the junta leaders agree by Oct. 18 not to run in the election.

“The pledges by Camara” and the junta’s ruling National Council for Democracy and Development, “to launch a probe into the deaths must be backed strongly by the international community to bring the perpetrators to account; otherwise, it risks ending up simply inconclusive, like previous investigations,” Agyeman-Togobo said.

Guinea, which lies on Africa’s west coast, is the world’s biggest exporter of bauxite, a raw material used in aluminum production.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alpha Camara in Conakry via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 1, 2009 10:22 EDT