(Recasts with talks over, union comment)

By Saliou Samb

CONAKRY, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The presidents of Liberia and Sierra Leone met their Guinean counterpart Lansana Conte on Tuesday to try to prevent violent political unrest in his country from destabilising theirs.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Sierra Leonean head of state Ahmad Tejan Kabbah met the Guinean leader eight days after he declared martial law to quell a popular insurrection against his 23-year-rule.

The talks covered border cooperation and regional security concerns, including reports that Liberian ex-rebels were being recruited to fight in Guinea if the crisis in the West African state descended into all-out civil war.

More than 120 people, mostly unarmed civilians, have been killed since the beginning of the year in Guinea in clashes between security forces and protesters led by unions demanding that the reclusive Conte, who is in his 70s, cede power.

Although draconian martial law measures have restored calm to the world's leading bauxite exporter, analysts have warned the Guinean unrest could suck in and destabilise neighbouring states in one of Africa's most volatile regions.

"President (Johnson-Sirleaf) is very much concerned about the situation in Guinea and wants to see how she, along with Kabbah, can help bring peace and reconciliation to that sister country," a spokesman for the Liberian president said.

The latest bout of protests came after Conte named an old ally, Eugene Camara, as prime minister despite having earlier agreed to choose a consensus figure.

Union leaders met senior state officials to try to resolve the crisis on Tuesday but the talks ended in failure after strike leaders refused to endorse Camara's nomination.

"They asked us to approve an unpopular decision ... with all these deaths and all this damage we could not take the risk. The prime minister absolutely has to be changed," union negotiator Boubacar Biro Barry said.

RECRUITMENT RUMOURS

Liberia and Sierra Leone are trying to recover from brutal civil wars that involved some rebel groups backed by Conte.

Guinean officials said a delegation from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which held talks with Conte at the weekend, had warned of possible attacks by former Liberian rebels on Guinea's southeast border with Liberia.

Several thousand ex-rebels from Liberia and Sierra Leone still live in Guinea, especially in the hilly, thickly wooded southeast Forestiere region which borders these countries.

As Guinean soldiers have struggled to contain the violent anti-Conte protests at home, rumours have surfaced that former fighters of the Liberian ex-rebel group LURD were being recruited to help the Guinean president maintain control.

Guinea's military have categorically denied that.

Liberian President Johnson-Sirleaf called for any such recruitment to cease, her spokesman said. "No Liberian should allow himself to be recruited," Charles Nelson said in Monrovia.

Conte's Guinea had sheltered and armed the LURD (Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy) rebels who fought against former Liberian president and warlord Charles Taylor.

Northwestern neighbour Guinea-Bissau, whose President Joao Bernardo Vieira is a personal friend of Conte, has denied sending troops to help him stay in power. (Additional reporting by Alphonso Toweh in Monrovia)

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