OUAGADOUGOU, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Former chief of Guinea's presidential guard said Wednesday he shot the president because the junta leader wanted him to take responsibility for a bloody massacre in September.

The claim is the first comment from Lt. Aboubakar Diakite (Toumba) since the assassination attempt on Dec. 3.

Guinea's junta leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, was wounded in the assassination attempt and received surgery in Morocco.

Diakite accused Camara of ordering the Sept. 28 massacre at a pro-democracy rally where a human rights group said 157 people were killed. Camara has blamed Diakite for the massacre.

Following the incident, security levels have been raised in the Guinean capital of Conakry, eye witnesses said, adding that calm was restored as soldiers were deployed to major strategic points in the capital.

The political crisis in the West African country has lasted for nearly a year since Camara seized power in December 2008, hours after the death of long-time President Lansana Conte.

In August 2009, Camara announced he would return the country to democracy in a presidential poll in January 2010. But his intention to contest the elections ignited strong opposition in the country.

The standoff between the junta and the opposition has seemed ever more difficult to break since the Sept. 28 clash.