The authorities in Guinea-Bissau postponed the funeral for the assassinated armed forces chief of staff, Batista Tagme Na Wai, from Saturday to Sunday, according information monitored in Dakar.

The authorities announced the postponement without an explanation, Xinhua was told on Saturday by official sources in Bissau, the capital of the West African country.

A national funeral will be held for President Joao Bernado Vieira on March 10, the sources said.

President Vieira was assassinated early on Monday after his army chief Na Wai was killed in an explosion on Sunday evening.

The assassinations, which were attributed to revenge acts, prompted an emergency mission of the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS) to the country.

On Thursday, visiting ECOWAS officials met with Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior and military leaders, urging them to beef up security so that the country will no longer have coups or assassinations.

The government, which was nominated by President Vieira in January, has promised to give both men full state honors in a bid to appease rival military factions.

Guinea-Bissau has witnessed repeated coups and coup attempts since its independence from Portugal in the 1970s.

The country of nearly 1.6 million population is among the poorest in the world, being ranked the 175th out of 177 nations in the U.N. Development Program's Human Development Index.

With a jagged Atlantic coastline, Guinea-Bissau is being used by traffickers as a major hub for the flow of cocaine from Latin America to Europe.

In November, the country held a successful legislative election, which is widely seen as a hope to bring the country out of instability and the danger of becoming a lawless "Narco-state".

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2009)