Soldiers seize head of Guinea-Bissau’s army, place prime minister under house arrest

Soldiers put Guinea-Bissau PM under house arrest

BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau — Mutinous soldiers seized the head of Guinea-Bissau’s armed forces Thursday and placed the country’s prime minister under house arrest in an apparent coup attempt in the tiny coup-plagued African nation where the president was assassinated last year.

A crowd of hundreds gathered outside Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr.’s office in the capital in a show of support for the detained leader as martial music played on the radio, code for a military-led coup in this part of the world.

Soldiers surrounded the prime minister’s office at around 8 a.m. on Thursday, said his press attache Mamodou Djau, who arrived shortly after the soldiers made off with Gomes and a member of his Cabinet. Djau said the premier was taken to a military camp, before being driven back to his residence where he appeared to be under house arrest.

“We don’t know what is going on. We are all asking the same question,” said Djau, who was reached on his cell phone. He said he had not been able to speak to the prime minister since the incident.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “is following with concern the military incidents in Guinea-Bissau involving the detention and subsequent release of the prime minister,” U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said in a statement.

“He calls on the military and political leadership of Guinea-Bissau to resolve differences by peaceful means and to maintain constitutional order and ensure respect for the rule of law,” Haq said.

Immediately after the prime minister was seized, hundreds of people descended into the street in a show of support for the democratically elected leader whose party controls 67 of the parliament’s 100 seats. The crowd gathered first around Gomes’ office and later around his private residence.

At the military camp, the head of the armed forces Zamora Induta remained under guard, while his No. 2 appeared to be in control.

Antonio Ndjai, the detained army chief’s deputy, called a news conference soon after Gomes was released and issued a chilling warning: “If the people continue to go out into the streets to show their support for Carlos Gomes Jr., then I will kill Carlos Gomes Jr. Or I will send someone to kill him,” he said, according to the interview broadcast on state TV.

Earlier in the day, soldiers had gone to the United Nations compound in the capital, where a senior army leader accused of a previous coup attempt had been in hiding for the past 95 days. A foreign diplomat who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the press said that Admiral Bubo Na Tchuto left the U.N. compound with the soldiers.

He appeared to be acting as second-in-command of the mutinous soldiers and he told reporters gathered at the news conference: “I spent 95 days inside the U.N. compound. Why didn’t the population take to the streets then? Why are they taking to the streets now for Gomes?” Na Tchuto asked.

“I spent 11 years fighting for Guinea-Bissau’s independence. Gomes did not take part in that fight,” he said. “If the population continues to go out into the streets, I will send the military to clean the streets,” he said.

Na Tchuto was himself placed under house arrest in 2008 after being accused of plotting a coup. He escaped his captors and fled abroad. He disguised himself as a fisherman and returned in a dugout canoe and immediately sought refuge inside the U.N. compound.

Since independence from Portugal in 1974, the West African nation has been beset by coups, military revolts and political assassinations. The lawlessness has in recent years attracted South American drugs traffickers, who have used the country as a transit point for shipping cocaine to Europe.

The country’s last president who had ruled for nearly a quarter-century was assassinated on March 2, 2009 hours after the head of the army was killed in a bomb explosion. Elections were held three months after the twin assassinations and Gomes’ party came to power.

Experts applauded the elections which appeared to be free and fair, but cautioned that the country needed to find a way to contain the military, which has long controlled the country from behind the scenes.

Associated Press Writer Rukmini Callimachi contributed to this report from Dakar, Senegal, and Associated Press Writer Edith M. Lederer contributed from the United Nations.