Coup Attempt In Guinea-Bissau?

Guinea-Bissau: Two Killed in Mystery Assault On Interior Ministry

Two security guards were killed and one was injured when a group of about 20 armed men in military uniform attacked the Interior Ministry in the capital of Guinea-Bissau before dawn on Saturday, Interior Minister Mumine Embalo said.

Brigadier General Armando Gomes, the army chief of staff, described the attack as "an isolated incident" provoked by people who wanted to disrupt the country's return to constitutional rule.

It came just one week before the second round of presidential elections on 24 July to return this small West African country to democracy following a bloodless coup in September 2003.

Radio Bombolom, a popular privately owned radio station in Bissau, reported that the attackers were wearing uniforms of the parachute commando batallion based at Bissau airport. This has not been officially confirmed.

Gomes, the army commander, would only say that those involved in the attack were acting spontaneously outside the military command structure.

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Guinea-Bissau: Government Accuses Close Ally of Kumba Yala of Organising Attack On Interior Ministry

The recent assault on the Interior Ministry of Guinea-Bissau, which led to the death of security guards, was carried out by a group of dissident soldiers who had been financed by a close ally of former president Kumba Yala, Interior Minister Mumine Embalo said on Tuesday.

Embalo did not name the politician, but made clear through a series of indirect references that he was referring to Biaia Guab na Pana, a member of parliament belonging to Yala's Social Renovation Party (PRS).

The Interior Minister said this politician had financed the pre-dawn attack last Saturday. The attack itself had been led by a former state security official that worked in the port of Bissau, he added.

Yala, who was overthrown by a 2003 coup, came third in the first round of voting on 19 June, but refused for several days to accept his defeat.

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