(CNN) -- The president of Guinea-Bissau was assassinated Monday, a day after a powerful explosion killed the head of the west African country's military, the prime minister said.
Circumstances of Joao Bernardo Vieira's death are unclear.

Circumstances of Joao Bernardo Vieira's death are unclear.

It was not immediately clear how President Joao Bernardo Vieira, 69, died. Prime Minister Carlos Gomes confirmed the death to CNN.

Early Monday, gunfire and rocket explosions were heard near the presidential palace in the capital, Bissau, which lasted for an hour or so, according to local media. Looting was later reported at the presidential palace.

Vieira's death comes a day after Gen. Tagme Na Waie, chief of Guinea-Bissau's military, was killed in an explosion.

Na Waie died when a bomb went off in his office Sunday, according to local news reports. Five other high-ranking military officials were wounded, two of them critically.

After the attack, all local radio stations were ordered to immediately suspend their programs.

Na Waie's predecessor also was assassinated. Gen. Verissimo Correia Seabra was shot dead by soldiers in October 2004.

Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, has a history of military coups. Monday's development is the latest violence over four months as the army and Guinea-Bissau's president have clashed.

The tiny country, located between Guinea and Senegal, has a population of 1.5 million and is considered one of the five poorest countries in the world, according to the CIA Factbook.

The country has been in a near-constant state of political upheaval since independence from Portugal in 1974.

In 1980, Vieira became president after a military coup. He was accused of purging political rivals and suppressing dissent, but several coup attempts throughout the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him.

In 1994, the country held its first free elections, and Vieira was elected president. He held the post for five years, until a military mutiny ousted him, and the country plunged into civil war.

Successor Kumba Yala took office in 2000. He also was unseated in a military coup after three years.

Yala's ouster paved the way for Vieira to once again run for office. In 2005, he was re-elected president, pledging to pursue economic development and national reconciliation.




source : http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/03/02/guineabissau.general/

The guy has been there since 1980.
It is believed in many quaters that he master minded the death of his chief of staff
ANYWAY RIP

What a country, what a history!!

I weep for Mother AFRICA.

They should now go for Equitorial Guinue President then Zimbabwean President,way to go killers
I think the only way out for this dicktaters is by killing them.Africa is not moving forward because of this dickheads.
I am sorry but I have to say it.

RSA:

They should now go for Equitorial Guinue President then Zimbabwean President,way to go killers
I think the only way out for this dicktaters is by killing them.Africa is not moving forward because of this dickheads.
I am sorry but I have to say it.

Very wrong solution, otherwise, why didnt charles Taylor and his likes make a difference after ousting people like Samuel doe, Idi amin and co?
Such moves will only breed more anarchy in the land.

The best move will be for Africans to stop being cowardly, sycophants and hypocrites. They should stand up in unison and say "hell no to these ruthless leaders through peaceful protests. Yes, a few heads will roll but it seem to be the best option.

May his soul rest in peace.

This is one of the reasons Aso Rock was built as a fortified city!

The other national dickheads in Africa will soon learn the trick of Aso Rock

What's your point?

the way they just walked in and killed him like a fowl is what is most frightening.

I do not think the killers will be found.

I think it's high time Nigeria started annexing all these glorified "villages". They have no business being countries. I say Nigeria should invade all this small african countries jare. Enough of all this nonsense.

This will send signals to Mugabe so he will soon take lessons on how to build a fortified Aso rock in Zimbabwe.

He might call it Zimba rock

Good riddance to bad rubbish I'd say.

Fredrick Forsyth, the novelist, said the president was butchered and cut into small pieces:

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/mar/04/national-04-03-2009-08.htm

Guinea-Bissau president was chopped to bits – Frederick Forsyth
• Speaker becomes new interim leader
By The Sun Publishing
Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Photo: Sun News Publishing
More Stories on This Section

In a bizarre twist, it has emerged British novelist Frederick Forsyth was in Guinea-Bissau as the president was assassinated. He described the drama, which could have leapt straight from the pages of one of his thrillers.

The Day of the Jackal author told the BBC's World Today programme he had heard that soldiers first threw a bomb through the president's villa and the blast caused the roof to collapse. Mr Vieira had emerged alive from the rubble and was shot by his assailants but still did not die, said the writer, who was in the country to research a new book.

The soldiers then took the wounded president to his mother-in-law's house where they "chopped him to bits" with machetes, according to Forsyth. Hours earlier a bomb had killed the army chief at his headquarters. The device was reportedly hidden underneath the staircase leading to Gen Waie's office. Soldiers killed Joao Bernardo Vieira on Monday in an apparent tit-for-tat attack after army chief-of-staff Gen Tagme Na Waie was blown up.

Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Raimundo Perreira has been confirmed as the new interim leader of Guinea-Bissau. Mr. Perreira’s appointment is in keeping with the order of constitutional succession following President Vieira's murder. He will lead Guinea-Bissau until new elections within 60 days.

Braima Camara, a reporter from privately-owned Radio Pindiquiti in Bissau, told the BBC that Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade had sent a plane to pick up Mr Vieira's wife and children and take them to Dakar. Meanwhile, regional leaders are visiting Guinea-Bissau in an effort to defuse the crisis following the assassination of the president.

As at press time, the Economic Community of West Africa States was due to hold an emergency summit about the crisis in the capital, Bissau. The African Union's Peace and Security Council met on Tuesday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to discuss their response to the crisis.

According to the AU's statutes, member states should be suspended in the event of an unconstitutional power-change, as were Mauritania and Guinea after coups last year. ECOWAS Commission Chairman Mohamed Ibn Chambas told the BBC five West African foreign ministers were joining him in Guinea-Bissau and they would seek to ensure the army does not seize power.

He said: "We see these two [deaths] as certainly a step backwards, and we will remain resolved in the region and ensure that constitutional rule in Guinea-Bissau is respected.". The city reportedly remains calm in the aftermath of the double assassination. The British consul in Bissau, Jan van Maanen, told the BBC's Network Africa programme the capital was deserted. "There's no traffic, there's nobody on the street at all actually," he said. "There's no military on the streets, there's no check-points." Guinea-Bissau, a major transit point for Latin American cocaine headed for Europe - has been plagued by coups and political unrest since independence from Portugal in 1974.

The European Union and former colonial ruler Portugal have also called for the rule of law to be respected.
The army has denied it is launching a coup and promised to honour the constitution.
Under the charter, the speaker of parliament, Raimundo Pereira, has now taken office and must arrange elections within 60 days. The cabinet has announced seven days of national mourning for both leaders and launched a judicial inquiry into the deaths.

Monday's attack was the second on President Vieira in recent months. In November, his residence was attacked by soldiers with automatic weapons. New details have emerged of the enmity between the two men, who had been his political rival for decades. In January, Gen Waie had a narrow escape when unidentified gunmen opened fire on his car.

He reportedly suspected the attack had been ordered by Mr Vieira as he had just stepped outside after receiving a call from the presidency asking him to come at once.
Gen Waie was reportedly among majority ethnic Balanta officers suspected of plotting a coup and punished in the late 1980s by the president, who came from the minority Papel ethnic group.
Mr Vieira exiled the army chief for a number of years to a deserted island off the coast of Guinea-Bissau before he was officially pardoned and allowed to return, Gen Waie's chief-of-staff, Lt Col Bwam Namtcho, told AP news agency.