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Bissau, the capital city of Guinea-Bissau. File photo Shutterstock/TLF Images

African Union 'deeply concerned' by attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau

People were seen fleeing on the edge of the capital near the airport as heavy gunfire erupted.

THE AFRICAN UNION is “deeply concerned” by an attempted coup that occurred in Guinea-Bissau this afternoon in country’s capital.

Heavily-armed men surrounded the Palace of Government, where President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam were believed to have been to attend a Cabinet meeting.

People were seen fleeing the area on the edge of the capital Bissau near the airport as heavy gunfire erupted.Local markets were closed and banks shut their doors, while military vehicles laden with troops drove through the streets.

But the president later told AFP in brief telephone call that “all is well” and added that the situation is “under control”.

The cabinet announced Embalo would speak to the nation from the government palace on Tuesday evening and invited reporters to attend the speech there.

According to various accounts, in the early afternoon armed men were seen entering the government palace which houses different ministries.

Some witnesses described the gunmen as military, others as civilians.

Gunfire followed for a large part of the afternoon when the complex was surrounded.

An AFP reporter was warned to leave the area by a man carrying a gun who took aim at him.

The former Portuguese colony is an impoverished coastal state of around two million people lying south of Senegal.

It has seen four military putsches since gaining independence in 1974, most recently in 2012.

In 2014, the country vowed to return to constitutional government, but it has enjoyed little stability since then and the armed forces wield substantial clout.

A 36-year-old Frenchwoman living in Bissau, Kadeejah Diop, said she rushed to pick up her two children from school and witnessed armed troops entering the government complex.

“They made all the female workers leave. There was huge panic,” she told AFP by phone from her home. “Right now, we are holed up indoors. We have no news.”

Troops set up a security perimeter around the palace and kept people away.

A journalist, asking not to be named, reported that at the start of the afternoon the public television centre had been occupied by soldiers who refused to let staff leave. It was not clear if they were part of the coup bid or government loyalists.

African Union Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed deep concern over the “attempted coup”.

An AU statement said he was following “with deep concern the situation in Guinea Bissau, marked by the attempted coup d’etat against the government”.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)also issued a  statement saying it “condemns this attempted coup” and urged soldiers to “return to their barracks”.

The bloc warned that it “holds the military responsible for the well-being” of the president and governent members.

The United Nations said Secretary General Antonio Guterres was “deeply concerned with the news of heavy fighting in Bissau”

He called for “an immediate end to the fighting and for full respect of the country’s democratic institutions,” the UN’s statement said.

 

Election turmoil

Embalo, a 49-year-old reserve brigadier general and former prime minister, took office in February 2020 after winning a second-round runoff election that followed four years of political in-fighting under the country’s semi-presidential system.

He was a candidate for a party called Madem, comprised of rebels from the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) which had led Guinea-Bissau to independence.

His chief opponent, PAIGC candidate Domingos Simoes Pereira, bitterly contested the result but Embalo declared himself president without waiting for the outcome of his petition to the Supreme Court.

Late last year, the armed forces chief said members of the military had been preparing to launch a coup while the president was on a working trip to Brazil.

Troops had been offering bribes to other soldiers “in order to subvert the established constitutional order”, armed forces head General Biague Na Ntam said on 14 October.

The government spokesperson denied his account the following day.

Three countries in West Africa — Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso — have experienced military takeovers in less than 18 months.

The region’s mounting instability is due to be discussed on Thursday at an ECOWAS summit in Ghana.

© AFP 2022

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    Mute Seamus MacIonnrachtaigh
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    Dec 16th 2013, 11:36 AM

    In Ireland there are almost 100 empty houses for every homeless person.

    Funny, I don’t think Enda mentioned that last night.

    Threshold do excellent work but they really shouldn’t have to.

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    Mute John
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    Dec 16th 2013, 12:08 PM

    I think its disgusting to use the picture of a homeless child in the 3rd world to contrast against housing problems in this country. The child you have depicted doesn’t have access to social services or the care we take for granted in this country.

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    Mute Alfalfa T Boggins
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    Dec 16th 2013, 12:29 PM

    Send your child out to sleep on the street tonight and then tell us about the difference it is being homeless in Ireland tonight and being homeless in a third world country. At least in a 3rd world country they dont set their homeless on fire

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    Mute John
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    Dec 16th 2013, 12:31 PM

    Alfalfa. Go to India or Bangladesh and see how the people in the slums live, they’re treated like vermin, they exist on nothing. the rats in this country have a better quality of life.

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    Mute Alfalfa T Boggins
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    Dec 16th 2013, 12:37 PM

    Sorry John to me a homeless Child here in December is at risk as much any anyone anywhere. Most 12 year old’s are not aware of the services you speak about. Plus obviously no one would print a picture of a homeless child in Ireland, its too small a country.

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    Mute micheal285
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    Dec 16th 2013, 12:23 PM

    Maybe it’s the shape of things to come John ??

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    Mute John
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    Dec 16th 2013, 12:35 PM

    more than eight million Bangladeshis live on less than USD 2 a day. Its disgusting how people in our sheltered first world bubble compare their ‘hardships’ to the people of the 3rd world. We don’t know real hardship in this country. Open your eyes!

    http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=4794

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    Mute Aunty Simmonite
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    Dec 16th 2013, 12:28 PM

    Contrast the few comments on this issue with the outpourings of the do-gooders on the earlier ‘racist’ item.

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    Mute Sinead Hanley
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    Dec 16th 2013, 1:04 PM

    John… Charity BEGINS at home.. I dont know what kind of a mind would think its ok for an Irish child to suffer a little bit.. Its ok to be cold and hungry and wet.. At least she isnt suffering like those in the third world..

    A child should be subjected to NO suffering.. no matter what part of the world you live in..

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    Mute Mitch Connor
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    Dec 18th 2013, 3:32 PM

    Gg

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    Mute Arpy O'hEigceartaigh
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    Dec 16th 2013, 4:34 PM

    “Suffer little children to come unto me”
    I say no more; think about it.

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    Mute John Allen
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    Dec 17th 2013, 1:49 PM

    fantastic work is being done in cork in regard to homeesess and your journal is doing a great job in high lightind the matter my em address is danielgreydog@yahoo.co.uk used to do a lot of hunting in glanmire woods happy christmas an the new year too god bless

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