Coup Follows Lansana Conte's Death, Guinea-Bissau President shot dead, who is Next?

Guinea-Bissau President Joao Bernardo Vieira killed by soldiers 

Renegade soldiers have shot dead the president of the West African country of Guinea-Bissau, officials say. The killing of Joao Bernardo Vieira is thought to been a revenge attack, after the army chief of staff died in an explosion a few hours earlier.

The army denies there is a coup, and the capital Bissau is said to be quiet.

Guinea-Bissau is one of the world's poorest states. It has a history of coups and has become a major transit route for smuggling cocaine to Europe.

“It's not only the assassination of a president or a chief of staff, it's the assassination of democracy ” Mohamed Ibn Chambas Ecowas

"President Vieira was killed by the army as he tried to flee his house which was being attacked by a group of soldiers close to the chief of staff Tagme Na Waie, early this morning," military spokesman Zamora Induta told AFP news agency. He accused Mr. Vieira of being responsible for the death of the army chief of staff, with whom he had fallen out.

'Avenge'

Braima Camara, a reporter from privately-owned Radio Pindiquiti in Bissau, told the BBC News website the president had been killed at his private house, not far from the presidential palace.

He said military officials had told him the president was shot dead in retaliation after he admitted giving the orders for Gen. Tagme to be killed.

The president's house was largely destroyed in the assault and later looted by soldiers, he said.

JOAO BERNARDO VIEIRA

·  1939: Born

·  Electrician by trade

·  Key figure in struggle against Portuguese colonial rule

·  1980: Came to power in coup, as head of armed forces

·  1994: Won country's first multi-party elections

·  1999: Overthrown after sacking army chief

·  2005: Returned from asylum to win presidential election

He added that the military had taken the president's wife and family to the UN representative in Bissau.

Chief of staff Gen Tagme died after a blast late on Sunday that destroyed part of the military headquarters.

The army then ordered two private radio stations in the city to cease broadcasting.

Armed forces spokesman Samuel Fernandes told reporters at one station: "We are going to pursue the attackers and avenge ourselves".

But in a statement on state radio following Mr. Vieira's death, the military insisted no coup was in progress. The armed forces statement said the military would respect the constitutional order - in which the head of the parliament succeeds the president in the event of his death.

The president and army chief are said to have been at odds for months.

Renegade soldiers last November attacked the presidential palace with automatic weapons in a failed coup attempt.

The African Union, the European Union and former colonial ruler Portugal condemned the killing of 69-year-old Mr. Vieira - nicknamed "Nino" - as did Mohamed Ibn Chambas from the regional economic bloc Ecowas.

"The death of a president, of a chief of staff, is very grave news," Mr. Chambas told AFP.

"It's not only the assassination of a president or a chief of staff, it's the assassination of democracy," he said.

The AU is reportedly arranging an emergency meeting to review the situation.

Plagued by coups

After last November's attack, the president was subsequently given his own 400-strong militia for protection.

In January, that militia was accused of trying to kill the head of the army and was then disbanded.

Guinea-Bissau has been plagued by coups and political unrest since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974.

President Vieira, just like the country's previous leaders, relied on the army to stay in power, and personal rifts made it a rocky relationship, the BBC's West Africa correspondent Will Ross says.

Guinea-Bissau - a major transit point for Latin American cocaine headed for Europe - has also been destabilised by the effects of drug trafficking.

Some officials in the army are known to have become involved in the trade, our correspondent says.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7918061.stm

Published: 2009/03/02 12:40:56 GMT

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