(Adds Camara dismissal)

CONAKRY, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Guinea's military junta has arrested three of its officers, one a newly appointed minister, on suspicion of plotting to destabilise the administration that took power in December, officials said on Tuesday.

Military officials who asked not to be named said those arrested were colonels in the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), the junta which seized power after the death of President Lansana Conte on Dec. 22.

"Colonels Aboubacar Sidiki Camara, Biro Conde and Bambo Fofana have been arrested. They are suspected of plotting," one of the officials told Reuters.

Another military official confirmed the arrests, saying the officers were being held at the Alpha Yaya Diallo military camp. Colonel Fofana was released later on Tuesday, he added.

State television announced later on Tuesday that Camara had been dismissed "for gross misconduct", but gave no details.

Camara had only recently been made Central Secretary of the CNDD, a post that gave him the power to review laws. State television said he was replaced by Major Moussa Keïta.

The arrests underscore the political and military tensions since the coup in the world's biggest bauxite exporter, which contains a third of the known reserves of the aluminium ore.

Mining is the main source of state revenue and hard currency, and firms operating in the country include Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, AngloGold Ashanti <ANGJ.J> and Russia's RUSAL.

One military officer said the arrests resulted from power squabbles within the ruling junta.

Camara is influential within the gendarmerie while the two other officers were senior members of the CNDD. Conde was part of a delegation sent round West Africa to shore up support for the junta after the coup.

Earlier this month the West African regional bloc ECOWAS announced that it was suspending Guinea until democracy was restored. Rights groups have called on the new regime to improve the country's human rights record.

Tuesday's arrests follow a Jan. 7 purge of the armed forces, in which two senior former commanders were held on suspicion of plotting to organise opposition to the CNDD. (Reporting by Saliou Samb; writing by David Lewis; editing by Tim Pearce)

AlertNet news is provided by