"El Tigre" guards Guinea for wounded junta chief

Guinea junta chief Captain Moussa Dadis Camara is seen with his former aide de camp Lieutenant Aboubacar ''Toumba'' Diakite (R) in Conakry in this photograph taken October 2, 2009.

CONAKRY (Reuters) - With Guinea's junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara lying wounded in a Moroccan hospital after a gun attack by his own soldiers, Defense Minister Sekouba Konate appeared to hold sway in the capital Conakry on Saturday.

Known as "El Tigre" for his ferocity in tackling past rebel attacks on Guinea, Konate was abroad when Camara was shot late on Thursday but wasted no time in heading back to Guinea to try to fill the power vacuum.

Following are some insights into the character who could now be key to whether the chaos in Guinea escalates further.

- Military sources talk of Konate as the man with most influence on Camara. "He was very much the power behind the throne," noted Tara O'Connor at Africa Risk Consulting.

- His military credentials are unchallenged: a parachutist commando trained in Morocco's Royal Military Academy of Meknes, he was in the thick of the fighting against rebels on Guinea's borders during 2000 and 2001. He personally took part in a number of battles and sustained injuries.

- Konate was not directly implicated in the September 28 security crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners which witnesses say claimed over 150 lives. At the time he was reported to be 400 km (250 miles) away in the east-central Faranah region.

- According to military sources, Konate sought in October to arrest Camara's aide de camp Lieutenant Aboubacar "Toumba" Diakite, the soldier cited by witnesses as being the ringleader in events of September 28. Toumba managed to evade arrest and is now accused of leading Thursday's assassination bid on Camara.

- Konate was initially favorite to lead the junta after the bloodless coup that followed ex-President Lansana Conte's death, but he declined to come forward despite strong backing within the military.

- Much of that support appears to hold -- witnesses noted a strong turn-out of soldiers at the airport on Friday to welcome Konate when he arrived back from an official trip to Lebanon. He went immediately to Camp Alpha Yaya Diallo in Conakry, the de facto headquarters of the junta.

- The group of elite soldiers who swore an oath of loyalty to Camara in the early days of the junta repeated the same oath for Konate.

- Konate has suffered health problems and, like Camara, has had to be evacuated to Morocco for treatment this year. There is speculation of a liver problem which has not been confirmed.

(Writing by Mark John; Editing by Charles Dick)