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Guinea-Bissau coup attempt foiled after fighting

Xinhua, December 27, 2011

• The military of Guinea-Bissau has foiled a coup attempt in the West African country and the situation is under the control of the army and the government, army chief Antonio Injai announced on Monday night.

  At least one person was killed and several others seriously injured in the fighting erupting early in the morning in the capital Bissau. Around 30 people have been arrested following the confrontation, local radio reported.

  "A group of military personnel attempted today, Dec. 26, to resettle the question of the situation of peace which prevails in the country," Gen. Injai told a press conference in the presence of Defense Minister Baciro Dia and Interior Minister Fernando Gomes.

  "The situation is already under control of the army and the government of (premier) Gomes Junior," he added.

  At dawn, gunfire was heard between troops of the army chief and those loyal to Navy chief Bubo Americo Bubo Na Tchuto.

  Indjai said Bubo was arrested along with his complice Sae Braia Na Nhakba and another senior officer Watna Na Lai, who and lieutenant Tcham Na Man were seriously injured and receiving medical treatment at the hospital of Simao Mendes in Bissau.

  The army chief himself was allegedly detained by Bubo's men at 5:00 a.m. local time, before set free by troops rushing to his rescue from Mansoa, 50 km north of the capital.

  In downtown Bissau, some streets were deserted and the hospital of Simao Mendes were closed off by security forces after the gun fight.

  The flare erupted when President Malam Bacai Sanha was being hospitalized in France. The 64-year-old president went to neighboring Senegal late last month and then to France for medical treatment, sparking fears of instability in the former Portuguese colony.

  Sanha was elected in 2009, after the assassination of former president Nino Vieira and ex-army chief Batista Tagm na Wai in March of the year.

  The country of 1.7 million population has seen a series of coups and coup attempts since its independence from Portugal in September 1973.

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