Guinea president agrees to pick new premier

CONAKRY, Feb 25 (Reuters) Guinean President Lansana Conte has agreed to choose a new prime minister from a list of names proposed by opponents, raising hopes for a settlement to a two-week general strike, a union leader said today.

''The president agrees with the principle that the union representatives, political parties and civil society should propose five names from which he can pick a prime minister,'' union leader Amadou Diallo told Reuters.

The framework accord negotiated with the help of West African mediators represented a step towards a deal that would lift the anti-government strike that has gripped the West African nation, the world's top exporter of bauxite, used to make aluminium, since February 12.

It followed the ending of martial law at midnight on Friday after Guinea's parliament refused a request from Conte to extend a state of emergency enforced by the armed forces to prevent street protests.

Sources involved in the negotiations said Conte, a reclusive diabetic in his 70s whose opponents say is unfit to rule, would have until March 2 to make his choice of premier from the list.

REUTERS SP VC1930