Diplomat: Military seizes Guinea-Bissau capital

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Originally published Thursday, April 12, 2012 at 1:49 PM
Diplomat: Military seizes Guinea-Bissau capital

A senior diplomat in Guinea-Bissau says the military has taken over the central district of the capital and there are reports of heavy arms fire including mortar shelling.

By LAMINE DJATA AND RUKMINI CALLIMACHI
Associated Press

BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau —

A senior diplomat in Guinea-Bissau says the military has taken over the central district of the capital and there are reports of heavy arms fire including mortar shelling.

The diplomat who could not be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media said Thursday the whereabouts of the country's interim president and prime minister are unknown.

Guinea-Bissau has weathered successive coups and attempted coups since winning independence from Portugal in 1974. The country was due to hold a runoff election on April 29, pitting Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr. against a former president, Kumba Yala.

Yala recently announced that he planned to boycott the vote. The emergency election is being held after the death of former leader Malam Bacai Sanha, who died in January after being rushed to Paris for treatment for end-stage diabetes.


Read more: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2017969001_apafguineabissauunrest.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Amnesty: Guinea-Bissau: increasing repression in wake of military coup

Sources in Bissau, the capital city, told Amnesty that military check points and road blocks have sprung up around the city – particularly along the road to the airport – and vehicles are being stopped and searched.

Spontaneous, peaceful demonstrations by women and young people have been violently repressed by the military in recent days.

Over the weekend some protesters were beaten with guns by soldiers and one protestor was reportedly stabbed in the leg and is now in hospital in a serious but stable condition.
...
Amnesty is also calling for the immediate release of former Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior and interim President Raimundo Pereira who have been detained since the 12 April coup. Both men were transferred to Mansoa Barracks, about 60km north of Bissau on Saturday and the conditions of their detention remain a cause for concern. Reportedly, both men are being held incommunicado in a mosquito-infested small cell with no water or toilet facilities. Carlos Gomes Júnior suffers from diabetes and requires daily medication which was denied, causing him to become ill on Saturday.

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=20067

Reuters:

AU suspends Guinea-Bissau for coup, talks under way

The African Union (AU) suspended Guinea-Bissau over last week's coup, adding to pressure on military chiefs who said they were ready to restore power to civilians after talks with regional mediators
...
Lieutenant-Colonel Daha Bana na Walna, spokesman for the Guinea-Bissau army leadership, said ECOWAS would send a technical team to help restore civilian rule. He said the country was calm and there was no disorder.

ECOWAS had also insisted in the talks that Gomes Junior and Pereira be released. "As soon as the conditions of security exist for this, they will be freed," na Walna said.

But he later told reporters in Bissau that the return to political power of Gomes Junior and Pereira was "out of the question", and confirmed that the aim of the April 12 army intervention had been to end their mandates.

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25035:au-suspends-guinea-bissau-for-coup-talks-under-way&catid=3:Civil%20Security&Itemid=113

On edit:

I see the problem I had. The Las Vegas Sun published a 7 day old report today, and dated it "Wednesday, April 18, 2012 | 3:06 a.m.". It was actually:

Guinea-Bissau Schedules Election Runoff

BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau April 11, 2012 (AP)

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/guinea-bissau-schedules-election-runoff-16117210#.T47z3KjaKSo