Security forces fired at pro-democracy demonstrators on Monday in Guinea, killing scores, according to witnesses and news reports. The Guinean Human Rights Organisation said reports from hospitals indicated that the death toll had risen to 157, news reports said on Tuesday.

Troops opened fire as thousands of opponents of the military junta led by Capt Moussa Dadis Camara gathered in a stadium in Conakry, the capital, to protest his plans to run in presidential elections next January.

At first, the troops fired tear gas at the crowd, estimated to have as many as 50,000 people, and then they started shooting, according to witnesses, who described scenes of panic and terror.

The violence came after months of tension in the impoverished West African nation, brought on by what has been widely described as the erratic behaviour of Captain Camara, the military man who led a coup last December, soon after the death of longtime leader Lansana Conté.

The shooting drew widespread international condemnation, with Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, urging authorities in Conakry on Tuesday to “exercise maximum restraint and ensure a peaceful and democratic transition,” news reports said.

At first welcomed by citizens weary from decades of authoritarian rule, Captain Camara has since lost support because of the actions of his troops — which human rights groups say include robberies, beatings and rape — and his own inconsistencies.

He appears to make all government decisions alone, frequently with television cameras rolling. Tirades about drug dealers and incompetent officials; interrogations of Conté’s henchmen; and stories about his own humble background have all been beamed into people’s homes.

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