GBissau to protect returned former military chief

Bissau (AFP) - A former military chief who has returned to Guinea-Bissau after fleeing a coup is to be given state protection, the government said on Thursday.

Jose Zamora Induta, an admiral who was ousted as forces chief of staff of the coup-prone country by his deputy in 2010, had been exiled in Portugal before his homecoming last week.

He is to be allocated security guards at his home to "guarantee his physical integrity and prevent other events disturbing the peace", the government's national security council said in a statement.

It added that his return on Wednesday last week "corresponds to a return to full political and constitutional normality and respect of the rights of citizens".

Induta remained in Bissau after being forcibly removed by Antonio Indjai but finally fled to former colonial power Portugal after Indjai led a coup in April 2012.

Induta claimed to have survived an assassination attempt by soldiers linked to Indjai during the mutiny against interim president Raimundo Pereira and his prime Minister Carlos Gomes.

Guinea-Bissau has been plagued by coups since independence from Portugal in 1974 and the instability has attracted South American drug cartels using the country as a transit point to Europe.

The country of 1.6 million says it has reintroduced the rule of law since electing Jose Mario Vaz last year in polls that were judged by the European Union as "free and credible".