UPDATE 2-Peru premier to step down over Amazon clashes

* President Garcia has not yet named replacement

* Opposition demanded premier quit over violence

(Adds byline, details on strikes)

By Marco Aquino

LIMA, July 3 (Reuters) - Peru's prime minister said on Friday he planned to step down next week following heavy criticism of the government's handling of violent Amazon protests in which at least 34 people died last month.

It was the first time premier Yehude Simon put a date on his resignation, which was first announced in mid-June after the bloodshed set off the biggest political crisis faced by President Alan Garcia since he took office in 2006.

Indigenous protesters and police died in the clashes, which flared during demonstrations against government plans for large-scale energy projects deep in the rain forest.

Human rights groups say dozens of protesters were killed or are missing and have not been accounted for in the official government death toll.

The conflict has threatened to slow Garcia's push to attract billions of dollars in foreign investment to the resource-rich Andean nation.