Guinea-Bissau coup attempt fails while president is abroad

Friction between the army chief and the head of the navy reportedly behind attempt

A coup attempt in the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau has been thwarted, an army official claims. The attempt came while the ill president was seeking medical treatment abroad.

President Malam Bacai Sanha has been undergoing medical treatment in a Paris hospital since November.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - President Malam Bacai Sanha has been undergoing medical treatment in a Paris hospital since November. France's foreign ministry declined to say whether he was still in France.

Violence broke out between two factions of Guinea Bissau's armed forces earlier this week, forcing the prime minister to seek refuge at a foreign embassy. Automatic weapons and rocket fire could be heard at the Santa Luzia army base in the capital Bissau. No casualties have been reported.

"Apparently, it is friction between the army chief and the head of the navy," a Bissau-based diplomat said. "The prime minister has sought refuge in a foreign embassy."

The army and the government of Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior are currently in control of the situation, the army chief of staff said at a news conference.

The army chief of staff was arrested on the orders of the head of the navy, but was later freed by his troops.

Army chief Antonio Indjai said authorities had arrested Natchuto Bubo, the navy chief, in connection with the incident. Tchuto said he denied any knowledge of an order to arrest the chief of staff.

"For a week now, I have been spending nights at my home, not at the barracks. I was informed of the situation, I had no idea what is going on," Tchuto told reporters.

It was just the latest in a series of upheavals for the West African nation. Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has been beset by a series of coups, military revolts and political assassinations.

The country's former president, Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira, was assassinated on March of 2009, hours after the head of the army was killed in a bomb explosion.

Less than a year later, mutinous soldiers seized the head of the armed forces and placed the prime minister under house arrest in an apparent coup attempt.

Drug trafficking networks have reaped the benefits of the weak government and corruption to turn Guinea-Bissau, whose main legal export is cashew nuts, into one of West Africa's transit points for Latin American cocaine headed to Europe.

The nation sits at the bottom of most economic and health indices, as most of the people there subsist without electricity or clean running water. There are few job opportunities for young people and the average life expectancy is just 46 years.

? 2011, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions For December 2011
General Intention: That migrants throughout the world may be welcomed with generosity and authentic love, especially by Christian communities.
Missionary Intention: Christ, light for all humanity. That Christ may reveal himself to all humanity with the light that shines forth from Bethlehem and is reflected in the face of his Church.

Source: http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=44212&wf=rsscol

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