Three youths in Guinea, who were arrested after trying to give Prime Minister Kassory Fofana a black cockerel as a gift, have been released from police custody.

The prime minister had gone at the weekend to the eastern town of Kankan, a stronghold of the governing party, the Rally of the Guinean People (RPG).

He was addressing party supporters in the town's youth centre when the three men attempted to present him with the cockerel, eyewitnesses said.

Black cocks are seen as a bad omen in many local cultures here so it seems the intended gift was interpreted as malicious.

The three were arrested by the prime minister's bodyguards with the help of police.

Sources in Kankan say they have now been freed without charge.