Guinea-Bissau hunts ‘coup leader’

Security forces search for political rival’s nephew after attack on president.

Guinea Bissau
Vieira's party comfortably won last week's parliamentary elections taking 67 of 100 seats [EPA]

One suspected mutineer was killed and several other soldiers injured following Sunday’s pre-dawn gunfight. Renegade fighters attacked Vieira’s home using machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Arrests

Six people were arrested in the wake of the attack.

Luis Manual Cabral, state prosecutor, said he was expecting to meet General Tagme Na Waie, the army chief-of-staff, to determine what action, if any, should be taken against the detainees.

The spectre of yet another coup in one of the poorest African nations provoked alarm that the state’s fragile democracy would be derailed again.

Abdoulaye Wade, president of neighbouring Senegal, immediately deployed troops along the border following a telephone discussion with Vieira just after the gun battle.

Vieira’s African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde comfortably won parliamentary elections on November 16, taking 67 of 100 seats according to provisional results.

Kumba Yala, whose party came second with 28 seats, denounced the results as rigged and pledged to challenge them. He is yet to comment on Sunday’s attack.

Source: News Agencies