The World Health Organization on Saturday officially announced the end of Guinea's second Ebola outbreak which was declared in February and claimed 12 lives.

Five young children perished in an arson attack during clashes in central Guinea on Tuesday, as anger over alleged fraud during weekend local elections turned deadly and tensions mounted ahead of the results.

Guinea's President Alpha Conde on Saturday appointed a new prime minister, he said in a decree, after being sworn in earlier this week for a controversial new five-year term.

Mamady Youla, an economist who has worked both for private sector firms and the government, replaces Mohamed Said Fofana, who stepped down Wednesday, according to the decree that was read out on public television.

At least 13 people were killed in a week of violence in Guinea before and after its contested presidential election, with the security forces responsible for the deaths of unarmed civilians, Amnesty International said in a report published Thursday.

The toll covers the period October 8-13, the days surrounding the October 11 vote which, according to the country's Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), handed victory and another five-year term to incumbent Alpha Conde.

Alpha Conde's arrival to power in Guinea five years ago followed long years as an exiled opposition leader tilting against despotic and military regimes, which earned him a brief spell in prison.

Despite already being in his seventies, the winner of the west African country's first democratic election in 2010 was seen as offering a chance for a break with the past.

EU election observers Tuesday slammed the poor organization of Guinea's first-round presidential ballot this weekend but urged the opposition to take its complaints to the courts rather than onto the streets.

At a highly-awaited press conference after the tense Sunday ballot, the European Union observer mission chief, Frank Engel, said the many logistical and organizational problems that surfaced "confirmed the lack of preparation" by Guinea's Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI).

Alpha Conde's arrival to power in Guinea five years ago followed long years as an exiled opposition leader tilting against despotic and military regimes, which earned him a brief spell in prison.

Despite already being in his seventies, the winner of the west African country's first democratic election in 2010 was seen as offering a chance for a break with the past.

Guineans lined up to choose their president Sunday after deadly pre-election violence, with the opposition in the poor but mineral-rich west African country vowing to contest the outcome.

Queues formed early outside polling stations for the official 0700 GMT start, with some six million people eligible to vote in the former French colony.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made an urgent appeal for violence-free elections in Guinea on Saturday, one day before voters in the West African country were due to elect a new president.

Ban "deplores recent violence in the country and calls on all national stakeholders to uphold their commitments and ensure that the elections are conducted in a peaceful and transparent manner that reflects the will of the people of Guinea," his office said in a statement.

Guinean President Alpha Conde said Wednesday that the country is ready to help in the regional fight against Islamist militants from Boko Haram.

"We are ready to provide any assistance asked of us... in the fight against Boko Haram," Conde told a press conference in Niger's capital Niamey at the end of a two-day visit.