CONAKRY, June 9: Guinea's ailing President Lansana Conte has intervened at the last minute to ensure the acquisition of rights to broadcast World Cup matches in the poor but soccer-mad West African nation, state radio said on Friday.

But, with Guinea in the grip of a general strike, residents are worried whether there will be enough electricity to watch the games.

Conte, a reclusive diabetic in his 70s, ordered his government to pay $70,000 for the rights to retransmit the 64 matches, the radio announced. The tournament started on Friday with hosts Germany defeating Costa Rica.

“Conte has ordered the payment but we are not sure whether there will be electricity to watch the matches,” said Boubacar Diallo, a radio salesman in Conakry.

Two years ago, power outages during the African Nations Cup games provoked riots in certain parts of the capital.

Blackouts are an everyday occurrence in the capital of Guinea, which remains one of the world's poorest nations despite its vast reserves of bauxite -- the raw material used to make aluminium.—Reuters