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G.Bissau troops stage coup attempt ahead of vote

By Allen Yero Embalo
Africa Since independence  in 1974 Guinea-Bissau's army and state have remained in constant, often deadly conflict.  By Phil Moore AFPFile
APR 13, 2012 LISTEN
Since independence in 1974 Guinea-Bissau's army and state have remained in constant, often deadly conflict. By Phil Moore (AFP/File)

BISSAU (AFP) - Guinea-Bissau troops staged an attemped coup, attacking the prime minister's residence, arresting politicians and seizing the ruling party headquarters and the national radio station.

Gunshots and rocket-propelled grenades were fired in the darkened streets of the capital of the putsch-prone former Portuguese colony, just two weeks ahead of the second round of a bitterly disputed presidential election.

The West African regional group ECOWAS, which has been grappling with a putsch and rebellion in nearby Mali, said it "rigorously condemned" the coup bid in Guinea-Bissau.

Soldiers attacked the residence of the winner of last month's first round vote, outgoing Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, whose whereabouts and those of interim president Raimundo Pereira remain unknown.

"It was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and we were forced to retreat," said a police officer who had guarded the building. He said Gomes had been there earlier but could not give his current location.

"There was a panic and a riposte from our colleagues. He (Gomes) attempted to get out amid the confusion. I don't know what happened after that because I too looked to get out of there," he added.

The sound of gunshots could be heard for around an hour, centred around the prime minister's residence, before relative calm returned to the capital of the chronically unstable country.

A military source told AFP: "We are actively seeking Carlos Gomes Junior. Regardless of where he is hiding, we will track him down before dawn."

Several political figures were "arrested" in Bissau and taken to the army headquarters at Amura, near the coast, the military source said on condition of anonymity.

"They are with us in the Amura fortress, the headquarters," he added, without revealing the identities of any of those seized.

Soldiers took control of the ruling party headquarters, where at least 20 troops were deployed, and the national radio station, which stopped broadcasts as did state television.

Troops also formed a cordon around the presidential palace, and the fate of interim head of state Pereira was not immediately known.

Ambulance sirens were heard across Bissau, which was plunged into darkness as electricity was cut off, while civilians stayed off the streets.

Soldiers, in groups of four or five and armed with rocket-launchers, rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles, patrolled the main roads and took put positions outside the UN office and foreign embassies.

No casualty figures were available. There were no signs at the Simao Mendes central hospital of any early casualties of the attempted coup.

Violence had been feared for days in the election period in the impoverished country, which has a history of political violence and is known as a major drug trafficking hub between South America and Europe.

"ECOWAS formally and rigorously condemns such an attempted coup d'etat," Ivorian Foreign Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan told reporters in Abidjan after a meeting of the 15-nation regional group.

Guinea-Bissau's opposition -- led by second-placed Kumba Yala, an ex president who claims the first round of the election was rigged -- have called a boycott of the April 29 run-off.

"Whoever dares to campaign will be responsible for what happens," Yala warned at a press conference with another four main opposition candidates on Thursday.

He denounced "massive fraud" in the first round on March 18 and stressed: "I have said and repeat it: I do not want a second round."

Gomes garnered 48.9 percent of the votes in the first round against Yala's 23.26 percent. The election campaign for the second round was supposed to start on Friday and end April 27.

The first round was also tainted by the assassination of former military intelligence chief Colonel Samba Diallo, who had been accused of involvement in a 2009 bombing that killed the country's then army chief and prompted the murder of president Joao Bernardo Vieira in a revenge attack.

Since winning independence through armed combat in 1974, Guinea-Bissau's army and state have remained in constant, often deadly conflict, with the result that no president has ever completed a full term in office.

Three have been overthrown and one was assassinated in office in 2009.

The latest election was held after the last president, Malam Bacai Sanha, died in January following a long illness.

The UN Security Council Saturday urged candidates and voters to "exercise restraint" ahead of the run-off and said political leaders should "resolve their disputes in accordance with the constitutional framework".

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