Guinea clashes kill one, injure nine after journalist says targeted

CONAKRY (Reuters) - One person was killed and nine others injured during clashes in Guinea's capital after a journalist critical of President Alpha Conde said he had been targeted for assassination, a government statement said. The violence highlighted simmering tensions in the West African nation, days after the Supreme Court rejected opposition challenges to the ruling party's victory in a September 28 parliamentary election. The government said security forces intervened on Sunday after youths set up checkpoints and attacked cars in the coastal capital, Conakry. Four of those injured were members of the security forces, said the statement issued on Monday. Violence erupted when crowds gathered at the offices of privately-owned Planet FM after Mandian Sidibe, one of the station's journalists, said he was being targeted in a plot to kill him. The government said the information was "completely false and irresponsible". The parliamentary election was the last step in a long process of restoring civilian rule to Guinea, the world's top bauxite exporter and home to some of the largest, untapped iron ore reserves. (Reporting by Saliou Samb; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Daniel Flynn)