Malam Bacai Sanha won the presidential election with 63 per cent of the vote. The former Portuguese colony waged a ten year protracted struggle for national independence but has experienced political instability in recent times., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Bissau nabs 25 soldiers over coup plot
Fri Dec 30, 2011 2:39AM GMT
presstv.ir
Guinea-Bissau has captured twenty-five renegade soldiers who were allegedly involved in a coup plot against the government, a report says.
The country's military announced on Thursday that a large cache of arms had also been seized at the homes of two soldiers arrested for participating in Monday's attack on army headquarters.
Army chief General Antonio Indjai disclosed on Monday that a coup attempt had been foiled.
Indjai said he was "staggered" by the quantity of arms unearthed.
According to a report, the army captured 30 Kalashnikovs, three rocket-launchers, a machine-gun, six crates of shells, three crates of flamethrowers, eight bulletproof jackets and ammunition in search operations.
The army said it had nabbed navy chief Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto as the "mastermind" of the plot.
However, many call it a wrangle between Indjai and Bubo Na Tchuto who was among 25 detainees paraded before journalists on Thursday.
Bubo Na Tchuto, who is being kept in Mansoa, 60 kilometers north of the capital Bissau, told visiting journalists and human rights activists that he was "in good spirits".
In 1973, the West African country declared its independence from the Portuguese Empire, and in 1974 the country added Bissau to its name to prevent confusion with the Republic of Guinea.
12/28/11 9:47 AM
Bissau: Two dead as troops hunt 'failed coup' suspects
Angola Press
Bissau - The day after Guinea-Bissau said it had foiled a coup attempt, clashes between security forces and alleged mutineers left at least two people dead, army and police sources said Tuesday.
Joint teams of soldiers, police and paramilitary police were hunting suspects in what Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior has said was an attempt Monday morning to launch a coup d'etat, military sources said.
A police commander who had been wanted as a suspect in the rebellion was shot dead Tuesday night, a police source said. The previous night a soldier died in a clash with renegade forces, according to an army officer.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton condemned the violence in the impoverished country that has a history of coups and army mutinies and has become an illegal drug-trafficking hub.
The latest turmoil in the West African nation started early Monday when renegade forces attacked the army headquarters while President Malam Bacai Sanha was abroad, receiving medical treatment in Paris.
No-one was reported killed in the initial clash, which saw renegade troops seize a cache of weapons, according to the army. Some of the attacking soldiers said the unrest was over a pay dispute.
The army chief later said the navy chief Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, previously accused of coup plans and of links to the drugs trade had been arrested as the "mastermind" of the coup attempt.
Guinea Bissau Navy Chief Accused of Coup Attempt
Monday, December 26th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
VOA
Guinea Bissau's top army official says the country's navy chief has been arrested for trying to overthrow the government.
Army General Antonio Indjai says Rear-Admiral Bubo Na Tchuto tried to carry out a military coup early Monday, when rebel soldiers stormed the armed forces headquarters in the capital, Bissau.
Indjai and Tchuto were often at odds as military chiefs in the poor West African country, which is known for its instability and coup attempts.
Witnesses in Bissau sat military factions battled each other in the capital, forcing Prime Minister Carlos Gomes to briefly flee to the Angolan embassy near his home.
Guinea Bissau's general counsel in Angola, Isac Monteiro, confirms the claim to VOA. He says at one point Angolan troops guarding the embassy fired at Guinea Bissau soldiers who were trying to take the prime minister hostage.
General Indjai claims the military has control of the armed forces headquarters and that the “situation is under control.”
Residents report a heavy military presence in the streets of the capital.
Meanwhile, President Malam Bacai Sanha is still out of the country, several weeks after traveling to Paris to undergo a medical procedure for an undisclosed condition.
The president is known to have diabetes and trouble with the hemoglobin levels in his blood.
Mr. Sanha was elected president of the former Portuguese colony in 2009, four months after the assassination of President Joao Bernardo Vieira.
12/28/11 7:59 AM
Angola: Minister highlights engagement in Guinea Bissau's military reforms
Angola Press
Luanda - Angola’s Defence minister, Cândido Pereira Van-Dúnem, on Tuesday in Luanda highlighted the intervention of the Armed Forces (FAA) in 2011, in the reform process of the defence and security system in Guinea Bissau, under the historic brotherhood relations.
Cândido Pereira Van-Dúnem said so at a yearend greetings ceremony with members of his staff, at the Luanda Air Force Base.
He said that FAA's intervention in Guinea-Bissau is part of the implementation programme of the technical/military and security co-operation signed between the two countries, which aims at strengthening security and stability in that country.
Thus, he reiterated the engagement of the Angolan government, led by President José Eduardo dos Santos, in the mentioned process, since it is a desire of Angolans that Guinea Bissau find soon its way to lasting peace, political and military stability.
The ceremony was attended by the FAA's Chief of Staff, general Geraldo Sachipengo "Nunda", commanders of the various fields, national directors, general admirals, among others.
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