The Guinean opposition leader, Alpha Conde, has returned to Guinea from self-imposed exile, to contest presidential elections due later this month.

An estimated thirty thousand people turned out to welcome him at Conakry airport.

Mr Conde, who heads the main opposition group -- the Guinean People's Rally -- will challenge President Lansana Conte and two other candidates in elections on December the fourteenth.

Correspondents say Mr Conde is regarded as the main rival to President Conte, and there's been tension in recent days between their respective supporters.