FACTBOX-Main figures in Guinea's ruling junta

Dec 8 (Reuters) - Guinea junta chief Captain Moussa Dadis Camara is recovering in a Moroccan hospital after an operation for gunshot wounds sustained in an assassination bid last week by his former aide-de-camp.

Temporary control of the world's top exporter of the aluminium ore bauxite has passed to Defence Minister Sekouba Konate, tasked with warding off a possible coup from somewhere within Guinea's notoriously unruly army.

Here is a run-down of the main players in the Guinean junta, their allegiances and current situation.

CAPTAIN MOUSSA DADIS CAMARA - Camara suffered trauma of the cranium from last Thursday's attack but no damage to vital organs, Moroccan officials say. He was due to spend several days recovering from an operation at the weekend. Camara was a lowly head of the fuel section of the army's Supply Corps before the December 2008 coup -- he drew lots to be named junta chief and de facto head of state. A volatile figure given to public humiliations of underlings and even foreign diplomats, he draws his main support base from his minority ethnic group in the Guinea Forestiere region. The head of the ECOWAS regional group said on Monday Camara was "quite frankly an obstruction" to stability. Some suggest he will be offered exile.

DEFENCE MINISTER SEKOUBA KONATE - Camara's second-in-command and the man long seen as the power behind the throne. A widely respected commando knows as "El Tigre" for his ferocity in battle, Konate is believed to prefer backroom influence to a more high-profile political role. Unlike Camara himself and most of the junta, he was not in the capital Conakry on the day of the Sept. 28 massacre of pro-democracy marchers. In October he sought to have arrested the officer seen as a ringleader in the killings of protesters -- but the detention failed after a tense stand-off.

LIEUTENANT ABOUBACAR "TOUMBA" DIAKITE - Camara's former aide-de-camp Toumba was immediately named by the junta as having carried out the assassination bid and is currently on the run. A medical graduate and black belt karate practioner, Toumba is widely cited by independent witnesses as playing a leading role in the Sept. 28 crackdown. Before then, he organised mass arrests of army officers perceived as hostile to the junta, many of whom were subsequently tortured, according to their families. Tensions between Camara and Toumba mounted as international pressure grew on the junta leader to arrest those responsible for the Sept. 28 killings and mass rapes. According to some accounts, Thursday's attack happened after Toumba realised he could be handed over for international prosecution.

CAPTAIN CLAUDE PIVI - Pivi was originally the junta officer charged with maintaining security around Camara but he was eased out of that key role by Toumba. The two men have been in open conflict for months and it was Pivi who, acting on Konate's orders, sought to have Toumba arrested in October. Pivi is now leading the hunt for Toumba, believed to be hiding somewhere in Guinea with his followers. Pivi has shown in the past his capacity to rally grievances within the army -- for example by leading a violent May 2008 mutiny over pay.

SERGEANT MOHAMED "BEGRE" CAMARA - The fate of the former commander of the battalion charged with presidential security (BASP) is unknown after his arrest as a suspected accomplice on the attack on Camara. Video footage seen by Reuters shows him tied up in what appears to be Camp Alpha Yaya, the headquarters of the junta.