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CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's military junta has officially named veteran opposition politician Jean-Marie Dore as prime minister of a transitional government charged with restoring civilian rule, a spokesman said on Thursday.

On Tuesday, a source close to the junta said Dore, head of party the Union for the Progress of Guinea, had been picked to lead the world's biggest bauxite exporter to the first elections since Moussa Dadis Camara seized power in December 2008.

"Jean-Marie Dore ... has been named prime minister, head of the transitional government," Commandant Mandjou Dioubate said on state radio.

Like Camara -- still convalescing outside the country after a December 3 assassination bid -- Dore is from one of the minority ethnic groups of Guinea's Forestiere region. His naming is hoped to persuade Camara supporters to back the transition process.

Defence Minister Sekouba Konate assumed control of the West African country after the attempt on Camara's life. Camara has since promised to organise elections which the international community have long demanded.

Dioubate did not give any further details about the composition of the government.