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RIO DE JANEIRO, April 9 (Reuters) - Brazil needs to send in federal troops to help contain the burgeoning crime rate in Rio de Janeiro, the state governor said on Monday.

Rio de Janeiro state Gov. Sergio Cabral said he will ask President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday to send armed forces to Rio and deploy more elite police from the National Public Security Forces in the city.

Cabral spoke to reporters after the mourning ceremony for his family's security guard, who was killed in an attack on Sunday.

"I think that the armed forces could fulfill a more effective role in supporting the military police throughout Brazil," Cabral said.

Cabral said there were 6,000 navy marines who could assist the police, according to the state government Web site, adding that the armed forces could help patrol the busiest highways of Rio de Janeiro.

Federal police have mostly stayed out of the city and patrolled main roads and guarded state borders. But in 2003, about 3,000 federal troops were sent to maintain order during Rio's Carnival after drug gangs torched buses, killed seven police officers and forced shops to close.

"The military and civil police are extremely overworked. I think that all law enforcement agencies can help in this struggle," he said.

In Sao Paulo, Lula said he was ready to comply if there was a request for federal troops to patrol Rio's streets.

"If Sergio Cabral asks, then we will do our best to meet his needs," Lula told reporters after attending a trade fair.

However in Brasilia, Justice Minister Tarso Genro said earlier he opposed using federal troops in Rio de Janeiro.

"The armed forces are trained for other duties. They are trained for war, not for policing," Genro told reporters.

About 400 national paramilitary police were deployed in Rio in January after a wave of violence that was shocking even by Rio de Janeiro's standards. The number will rise to some 6,000 in the lead-up to the Pan American Games in Rio in July.

Criminals linked to drugs gangs attacked police posts and at least 19 people were killed in December, including seven civilians burned alive in a bus.

Nearly 40 police officers have been killed in Rio de Janeiro since the start of the year. Many were shot off duty.

Shootouts between police, drug traffickers, vigilantes and robbers occur almost daily in this seaside city, which is one of Brazil's most popular tourist destinations.

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