Guinea army rounding up, torturing suspects -police

* Guinea soldiers instigating wave of arrests after attack

* Some linked to Camara attacker tortured, killed -police

By Saliou Samb

CONAKRY, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Soldiers in Guinea are rounding up, torturing and, in some cases, killing people associated with the soldier accused of trying assassinate junta chief Moussa Dadis Camara last week, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.

International pressure is mounting on Camara, who was shot in the head and is recovering from surgery in a Moroccan hospital, to step aside. But gunfire rings out almost daily as loyalist soldiers track those linked to Camara's aide de camp and would-be assassin, Lieutenant Aboubacar "Toumba" Diakite.

"All those who were seen with (Toumba) -- soldiers, civilians and even charlatans -- are being systematically arrested and tortured. Some of them are being killed," said the senior police officer, who asked not to be named but said he had gathered information from official reports and other sources.

The information was confirmed by a military source.

"The most worrying thing is that they are not bothering to seriously question those who are arrested. At this rate, this will turn into a settling of scores," the policeman added.

Last week's botched assassination highlighted the deepening divisions amongst the soldiers who seized control of the world's top bauxite exporter in a bloodless coup last December. Camara's defence minister and deputy Sekouba Konate is now in charge.

The tensions were exacerbated by the presence in Guinea last week of a team of United Nations investigators probing a Sept. 28 security crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners that human rights organisations say claimed more than 150 lives.

The U.N. team is not due to report on its findings until mid-December but West Africa's regional body, which has been mediating in the crisis, said on Monday that it saw no constructive role for Camara in the country's future.

DAILY GUNFIRE

Like on most evenings since last week's attack on Camara, gunfire rang out in Conakry's Cosa neighbourhood on Monday night as soldiers hunted down people with links to Toumba, who is on the run with soldiers who remain loyal to him.

The junta has offered an undisclosed amount of money to anyone who provides information that leads to Toumba's arrest. It has made no comment on the latest allegations.

Military sources said at least six people were killed in the firefight that broke out between junta factions last Thursday.

An army officer, who also asked not to be named, said at least two members of the presidential guard that Toumba has been in charge of were subsequently arrested and had died in torture.

A video, seen by Reuters in Conakry, showed several other members of the presidential guard being tied up and questioned.

Camara's future is not immediately clear, with questions still lingering over his health and Konate in command. Regional officials are increasingly suggesting exile is his only remaining option.

Ordinary Guineans, many of whom supported Camara's coup as he promised to reform the West African nation that remains mired in poverty despite its mineral wealth, are desperate for an end to their country's instability.

"The hardest thing for me is not to have seen my husband's body. For now, I am at a loss, I don't even know where he is buried," said Salimatou Bah, whose husband was killed on Sept. 28.

"After all that, the soldiers come and distract us with their internal bickering. Quite frankly, I don't really care about the attack on the president," she added.

There are fears that tensions in Guinea may spread through a region that has already seen three civil wars in a decade. Some mineworkers have left the country in response to the growing tension but production at major minerals operations has not been affected.

(Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Giles Elgood)