[size=18pt]Guinea-Bissau leaders held in apparent coup[/size]

Army officers in Guinea-Bissau have detained their army chief and briefly arrested Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, in an apparent coup attempt.

Hundreds of people poured out on to the streets to demand Mr Gomes Junior be freed. Witnesses say he was released and is now under house arrest.

Rebellion leader Gen Antonio Indjai threatened to kill the prime minister if the protests did not end.

But he later said the day's events had been a military problem, not a coup.

Portugal and France have condemned what they termed a coup, with Lisbon calling for a return to constitutional order in its former colony.

Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has suffered several coups - and last year, army officers assassinated President Joao Bernardo Vieira.

Soldiers' problem?

Gen Indjai was keen to play down the rebellion.


"Events which occurred this Thursday morning are a purely military problem and do not concern the civil government," he said in a statement on national radio, according to the AFP news agency.

"Military institutions remain, and will remain, submissive to political power."

President Malam Bacai Sanha, who heads the country, also played down the incident, saying the situation was now under control.

He said it had been a "problem between soldiers" that had spilled over into the civilian government.

"I will use my influence to find a friendly solution to this problem," he said.

Threat to kill

Army sources said Chief of Staff Gen Jose Zamora Induta and 40 other officers were still being held in the capital, Bissau.

And despite his later statement, Gen Indjai earlier said he wanted to try Mr Gomes Junior - known as "Cadogo" - as a "criminal".

"Cadogo is a criminal and he must be tried as one," he said.

"If the people continue to go out into the streets to show their support for Carlos Gomes Junior, then I will kill Carlos Gomes Junior, or I will send someone to kill him."

Witnesses said the crowds dispersed following the general's threat.

Gen Indjai was accompanied by former navy chief and suspected leader of a 2008 coup, Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, who the soldiers were said to have freed earlier.

He was reported to have left a UN building in Bissau, where he had taken refuge since December last year.

He had returned to the country after spending a year in exile in Gambia following a coup attempt he was accused of leading in 2008.

Earlier, national radio interrupted its programmes to play military music, which is considered code for a coup.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8599070.stm

We really have a lot of unrefined animals in Africa, and a lot in influential positions they should not be in (ala Alao Akala, Adedibu, Mba etc)

I used to wonder what kind of slowpoke allowed the likes of Idi Amin, Abacha etc to rise to the top in the military which gave them the platform to take over. These are just examples of why I have so much contempt for and I am vicious towards morons on NL. They make the world a less happy place to live.

This fool really thinks it is appropraite and he is authorised to threaten to kill someone without a trial if what he objects to is not done?

They need to protest regardless.
It is obvious, the coup leader fears the protests would topple him.

He may well have already killed the PM hence why he is making the threat.