Cape Verde urges world to keep up pressure on GBissau junta

Cape Verde's Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves is pictured in 2011. By (AFP/File)

LISBON (AFP) - The prime minister of Cape Verde on Sunday urged the international community to keep up the pressure on the junta in Guinea Bissau to cede power it seized in an April 12 coup.

"I think the international community should continue to apply pressure," Jose Maria Neves said on a visit to Portugal. "Nothing justifies coups d'etat."

"If there is no positive evolution (to the current situation), Cape Verde supports creating a peace force," he added.

The junta that seized power in the notoriously unstable Guinea Bissau has come under withering international criticism, with the UN Security Council on Saturday threatening "targeted sanctions" if civilian rule was not restored in the tiny west African state.

Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde together waged a battle for independence from colonial power Portugal under the banner of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC), with Guinea Bissau gaining independence in 1974 and Cape Verde the following year.

Less than 10 years later, disagreements within the party put an end to plans for the two countries to unite in a federation.