Reports on Wednesday said unidentified gunmen fired at Guinean President Lansana Conte's convoy on the same day in capital Conakry, apparently a coup attempt. The government has yet to confirm the reports.

The reports say the ailing president escaped the assassination unscathed. Security in Conakry was stepped up immediately.

Conte became president of the former French colony during a 1984 military coup, after the first ruler of the country since its independence in 1958, Sekou Toure, died in a heart attack. Conte is rarely seen in public, and suffers from severe diabetes and stomach ulcer.

The country of eight million people, roughly the size of Britain, is seen as relatively stable in the volatile west Africanregion, comparing to its neighbors such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire.

Mineral rich Guinea is among the world's poorest countries, although it is the largest bauxite exporter and ranks second next to Australia in terms of ore production. It has about 30 percent of the world's known bauxite reserves, the raw material used to make aluminum, and also boasts gold, diamonds and high-grade iron ore.

Source: Xinhua