Guinea military junta must stp down - opposition

* Military leader calls for direct dialogue

* Crisis mediator says situation "worrying"

CONAKRY, Nov. 3 (Reuters) - Guinea's military junta must step down to end a crisis stemming from a bloody crackdown on protesters, opposition leaders said on Tuesday.

Rising tension in the West African mining powerhouse has threatened to destabilise a region in which several countries are still recovering from recent civil wars.

"The solution to the Guinean crisis is the departure of the military junta," said Mamadou Mouctar Diallo, head of one of the main Guinean opposition groups, after talks with mediators in neighbouring Burkina Faso.

The head of the Guinean junta, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, called late on Monday for direct talks with the opposition.

The firebrand leader, who seized power in the world's biggest bauxite supplier after a coup last December, had been keeping a low profile as international criticism and a wave of sanctions piled up in the wake of the Sept. 28 killings.

The United States, the European Union and the African Union have imposed arms embargoes and travel restrictions since gunmen opened fire on protesters in a Conakry stadium, killing 157 and wounding more than 1,000, according to a local human rights group.