BISSAU, July 28 (Reuters) - A Guinea-Bissau human rights campaigner, forced into hiding after suggesting top military brass were linked to drug trafficking, appealed on Saturday for U.N. protection and said his life was in danger.

Mario Sa Gomes, head of the Association for the Defence of Victims of Judicial Errors, is the latest person to be pursued by authorities for suggesting military complicity in Latin American drug cartels' infiltration of the West African state.

An arrest warrant for Gomes was issued two weeks ago after he said on radio that military chiefs were holding President Joao Bernardo Vieira hostage and the best way of halting the rising tide of cocaine smuggling was to dismiss the top brass.

"I launch an urgent appeal to the Secretary-General of the United Nations to guarantee my safety because my life is in danger," Gomes told Reuters by telephone from his hideaway, adding he would sent a written request to the local U.N. headquarters on Monday.

Guinea-Bissau established a commission in June to probe high-level official involvement in drug trafficking, but it has yet to announce its findings.

Earlier this month, the local correspondent of Radio France International left the country after receiving threats over his coverage of drug trafficking. Other journalists have received anonymous threats or have been sought for questioning over stories.

The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists appealed to the government this week to end the intimidation of journalists in Guinea-Bissau.

International officials have raised concerns that the penniless former Portuguese colony could be overrun by wealthy Latin American cartels transporting drugs to Europe, as it lacks the manpower and resources to police its island-dotted coastline and isolated interior.

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